TRANSPORT

Airports: Security

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what advice his Department issues to security staff at airports on the x-raying of shoes.

Theresa Villiers: holding answer 14 February 2011
	 Department for Transport sets the screening requirements and the standards that must be applied to ensure that those entering airside areas of airports are not carrying or concealing a prohibited article. Requirements include the screening of shoes, in certain circumstances.
	For reasons of national security it is not possible to provide information on the detail of the guidance provided on shoe screening either in terms of how and when shoes should be selected for x-ray screening, or in terms of the screening process itself.

British Chamber of Shipping: Secondment

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many secondments to his Department from the British Chamber of Shipping there have been in each year since 1997; for what  (a) periods and  (b) jobs such secondments took place; what secondments of staff from his Department have been made to the British Chamber of Shipping; and for what (i) periods and (ii) jobs such secondments have been made in each year since 1997.

Michael Penning: There have been no secondments to or from the central Department for Transport to or from the Chamber of Shipping since 1997.
	From June to September 2006 and April to July 2007, two Maritime and Coastguard Agency personnel were seconded to the Chamber of Shipping's Technical and Labour Departments.

Departmental Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which persons not employed by Government Departments or agencies hold passes entitling them to enter his Department's premises.

Norman Baker: Passes may be issued to those who are required to make frequent visits to specific Government sites, subject to the usual security checks. For security reasons, it would not be appropriate to provide details of individuals who hold such passes.

Electric Vehicles

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the emissions arising from charging an electric vehicle through traditional power sources.

Norman Baker: Government research has estimated that, when calculated on a well to wheel basis, emissions arising from recharging an electric vehicle are up to 40% lower than those associated with a petrol equivalent; and up to 30% lower than a diesel equivalent. This calculation assumes that the recharging is based on a standard UK grid mix.
	These reduction figures will automatically improve in line with improvements to the environmental performance of the national grid.

Northern Rail: Standards

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 8 February 2011,  Official Report, column 146W, on Northern Rail: standards, what information his Department holds on  (a) punctuality and  (b) cancellation of services on the (i) Seaton Carew and (ii) Hartlepool Heworth lines; and what data his Department uses to monitor quality and timeliness of passenger rail services.

Theresa Villiers: The Department for Transport does not hold punctuality and cancellation information at the level of detail requested.
	Network Rail provides a public performance measure (PPM) of train punctuality for each train operator covering all of an operator's services. Northern Rail provide PPM, cancellation and other train performance information at regional service group level to the Department for Transport. Seaton Carew and Hartlepool stations are in the Tyne, Tees and Wear service group.
	Each of the five passenger transport executives (PTEs) assess the quality of delivery of stations and services within their area at least every two months. Independent auditors undertake service quality audits of Northern's stations and trains at least once per year. All results are shared between Northern Rail, the passenger transport executives and the Department.

Railway Stations: Repairs and Maintenance

Anne-Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many railway stations in Devon have been renovated as part of the National Station Improvement programme.

Theresa Villiers: Five stations in Devon have been identified by the industry for improvement under the National Stations Improvement programme. Improvements at Honiton station are currently underway and improvements at Newton Abbott, Exeter St David's, Exeter Central and Plymouth are planned in the future as part of the programme.

Rolling Stock: Expenditure

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the  (a) East Midlands Trains,  (b) Northern Rail,  (c) Cross Country,  (d) First TransPennine Express and  (e) East Coast rail franchises have paid to rolling stock companies since the start of each franchise; and how much of that money each rolling stock company has spent on rolling stock to be operated by each franchise.

Theresa Villiers: The rolling stock companies own the rolling stock which is then leased to the operators during the term of the franchise agreement. The details of these agreements are commercially confidential between the parties.

Shipping: Suffolk

Therese Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the  (a) causes and  (b) safety implications of the recent collision between a recreational fishing vessel and a tanker off the coastline in the Sole Bay area.

Michael Penning: On 9 February the 10 million charter boat "Chloe-Paige" with two crew was struck off Lowestoft by the 200,000-tonne "Zaliv Vostok" tanker while "Chloe-Paige" was anchored.
	The Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch are aware of the collision and are in the process of gathering information from the owner/manager of "Zaliv Vostok" and "Chloe-Paige".

South Eastern Trains

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the performance data for each relevant reporting period submitted to his Department by Southeastern Trains in respect of the review of the continuation of the franchise before any decision is taken on its renewal.

Theresa Villiers: As part of the work relating to the Southeastern continuation review I am considering what information will be published. An announcement will be made on the results of the continuation review in due course.

INDEPENDENT PARLIAMENTARY STANDARDS AUTHORITY COMMITTEE

Information Officers

Bob Russell: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, if he will request from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority the career history of those people employed as communications officers.

Charles Walker: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. I have asked IPSA to reply.
	 Letter from Scott Woo lveridge, dated 11 February 2011 :
	As acting Chief Executive of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking for publication of the career history of those people employed as communications officers for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.
	Details of the career history of our Director of Communications are available on IPSA's website. I will not, however, be releasing details of the career history of the other two members of the communications team as these members of staff do not form part of IPSA's senior management and I consider this to constitute personal information which should be treated in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

Information Officers

Bob Russell: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, how many communications officers the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority employs.

Charles Walker: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. I have asked IPSA to reply.
	 Letter from Scott Woo lveridge, dated 11 February 2011 :
	As acting Chief Executive of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking, how many communications officers are employed by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.
	Our communications team consists of three people.

Members: Allowances

Bob Russell: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, how many apologies the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has issued to hon. Members for wrongly rejecting claims for expenditure incurred.

Charles Walker: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. I have asked IPSA to reply.
	 Letter from Scott Woolveridge, dated 11 February 2011:
	As Acting Chief Executive of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many apologies the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has issued to hon. Members for wrongly rejecting claims for expenditure incurred.
	IPSA does not keep a record of apologies it has issued for wrongly rejecting claims. We do, of course, apologise whenever we have acted in error.

Members: Allowances

Bob Russell: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, if the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) will take steps to ensure all communications between IPSA and hon. Members for the purposes of clarification of a submitted claim are required to take place on the telephone.

Charles Walker: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. I have asked IPSA to reply.
	 Letter from Scott Woolveridge, dated 11 February 2011:
	As Acting Chief Executive of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking if the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) will take steps to ensure all communication between IPSA and hon. Members for the purposes of clarification of a submitted claim is required to take place on the telephone.
	We have no plans to take such steps. Whilst we do provide support and advice to MPs by telephone, we do not believe that it is appropriate or beneficial to make this the sole method of communication for the purposes suggested.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Crime: Drugs

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what steps she is taking to reduce the manufacture of illicit synthetic drugs in the UK; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what steps she is taking to reduce the number of illicit drug factories in local communities; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  what assessment she has made of the effects of spending reductions for Safer Neighbourhood Teams on steps to reduce the number of illicit drug factories; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The Government take the issue of synthetic drugs, including new psychoactive substances (so called 'legal highs') very seriously. The manufacture and trafficking in controlled drugs of all classes need to be tackled robustly in order to reduce the harm drugs cause to communities and the organised criminality associated with their supply.
	On 30 November 2010, we introduced to this House legislative proposals, in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, to amend the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 with provisions for temporary banning powers on new 'legal highs'. This will give the police and other law enforcement agencies the power to act, enabling them to seize these drugs and prosecute those who are selling them.
	Those caught supplying or trafficking a temporary ban drug will be committing a serious offence and subject to a maximum of 14 years in prison and an unlimited fine. Where an individual is found in possession of a temporary ban drug for personal use, police will have powers to seize and destroy it.
	Evidence indicates that these synthetic drugs and new psychoactive substances are manufactured outside the UK and that is why we need to concentrate the full force of the law at our borders to stop these drugs from getting into the UK. The UK Border Agency are undertaking effective enforcement action against those criminal gangs who traffic these drugs across our borders, by seizing and destroying shipments of illegal drugs and those 'legal highs' that are subject to an import ban under the Open General Import Licence.
	On 1 January 2011, the Home Office launched a three-month pilot to explore improvements to the current forensic early warning system for identifying new and emerging drugs. As part of this pilot, we are introducing new forensic technology at the borders to support UK Border Agency with the identification of any new drug being imported into the UK.
	Investigations into allegations of illegal synthetic drug manufacture within the UK is a matter for the police, who must prioritise resources towards tackling crime, including drug-related crime, with a focus on those offences which cause the most harm. Where drug factories pose a threat within a community, these will become a focus of police activity.
	No formal assessment has been made of the effects of spending reductions for safer neighbourhood teams in relation to drug enforcement. We have sustained the investment in neighbourhood policing funding for the next two financial years to ensure police crime commissioners (PCCs) inherit strong neighbourhood policing infrastructure.
	The exception to this is in London, where the Metropolitan police authority will have full autonomy over this funding from 2011-12, in recognition of the role the Mayor of London and the Deputy Mayor already play in policing. There is no need for visible and available policing to diminish because of the spending settlement, provided that forces focus on driving out wasteful spending and increasing efficiency in the back office that they can make.

Driving Under Influence: Drugs

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans her Department has to introduce equipment to test motorists suspected of driving under the influence of drugs.

James Brokenshire: Devices used for this purpose must be of a type approved by the Secretary of State. We recently issued a specification for a device that could be type approved for use at police stations and have invited manufacturers to submit devices to the type approval process by the end of February. How soon devices might gain approval will depend on the response of manufacturers and how well their devices perform in the rigorous testing regime. It will then be a matter for individual chief officers of police to decide on purchase.

Revenue and Customs: X-rays

Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what expenditure HM Revenue and Customs incurred in operating X-ray scanners in 2009-10.

Damian Green: The United Kingdom Border Force recorded an operating cost for 'Scientific Aids' of £3.4 million in the financial year 2009-10.

SCOTLAND

Petrochemicals

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with INEOS Grangemouth and PetrocChina on their agreement for technology sharing in the field of petro-chemicals.

David Mundell: The arrangement, including the technology sharing agreement, was a commercial matter between the two companies. The Government fully support an open, market-based approach to the development of the downstream oil sector, and welcome inward investment that benefits UK companies, providing a platform for growth in the wider economy.

JUSTICE

Children: Maintenance

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many cases at Bexley magistrates court have involved child maintenance issues in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Jonathan Djanogly: There were fewer than five financial applications made under schedule 1(2) of the Children's Act 1989 (financial provision for children) at Bexley Family Proceedings Court during the period January 2010 to September 2010, which is the latest period for which data are available.

Departmental Carbon Emissions

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on carbon offsetting in each of the last three years; and to which companies payments for carbon offsetting were made in each such year.

Jonathan Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) offsets carbon emissions caused by official air travel. Not only does this mitigate environmental damage caused by aeroplane exhaust emissions, it helps focus the MOJ on alternate methods of travel and communication e.g. video conferencing.
	The Department of Energy and Climate Change handles the tender process for all central Government carbon offsetting schemes as part of the UK Sustainable Development Strategy. More information on this can be found at:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/sustainable/government/publications/uk-strategy/index.htm
	Phase I of the Government Carbon Offsetting Facility covers April 2006 to March 2009. The tender was won by Trading Emissions plc and its investment adviser EEA Fund Management. In those years, the MOJ spent:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2006-07 607 
			 2007-08 14,825 
			 2008-09 14,956 
		
	
	Phase II of the Government Carbon Offsetting Facility covers April 2009 to March 2012. The tender applicable to the MOJ was won by EDF Trading for spot purchases and Essent Trading International SA for forward purchases. The MOJ has so far paid £14,248 for spot purchases and £15,574.68 for forward purchases.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment his Department has made of its requirements for annually managed expenditure in each financial year from 2010-11 to 2014-15.

Kenneth Clarke: The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has now received a spending review 2010 funding settlement with HM Treasury, covering both resource and capital departmental expenditure limits (DEL). This did not include the annually managed expenditure (AME). Departmental AME spending is voted on through the supply estimates process.
	The MoJ is currently reviewing the AME requirement and will be working with HM Treasury to agree suitable non cash funding to be voted on through the main estimate.

Drugs: Sentencing

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will assess the comparative length of sentences given to people convicted of  (a) possession and  (b) possession with intent to supply of (i) cocaine, (ii) heroin and (iii) ecstasy; and if he will make a statement.

Crispin Blunt: The Sentencing Council is currently developing a sentencing guideline on drug offences. An important part of that work is an assessment of current sentencing practice to inform the guideline, which will be subject to public consultation before it is finalised.

Drugs: Sentencing

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average length of a sentence given to people convicted of  (a) possession and  (b) possession with intent to supply of (i) cocaine, (ii) heroin and (iii) ecstasy was in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Crispin Blunt: The number of persons found guilty, sentenced and the average custodial length of sentence at all courts for 'possession of', and 'possession with intent to supply', cocaine, heroin, and ecstasy, England and Wales 2009 (latest available) is shown in the following table.
	Court proceedings data for 2010 are planned for publication in the spring, 2011.
	
		
			  Number of persons found guilty, sentenced and the average custodial sentence length at all courts for offences relating to 'possession of' or 'possession with intent to supply' Cocaine, Heroin, Ecstasy, in England and Wales, 2009( 1, 2, 3) 
			  Offence description  Cocaine  Heroin  Ecstasy 
			  Having possession of a controlled drug:
			 Found guilty 5,606 4,919 631 
			 Sentenced(4) 5,572 4,883 639 
			  Of which:
			 Immediate Custody 240 323 26 
			 Other sentences(5) 5,332 4,560 613 
			 
			 Average custodial sentence length (months) 8.5 3.8 4.1 
			 
			  Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply
			 Found guilty 1,640 1,190 197 
			 Sentenced(4) 1,670 1,205 203 
			  Of which:
			 Immediate Custody 1,303 953 125 
			 Other sentences(5) 367 252 78 
			 
			 Average custodial sentence length (months) 36.6 37.6 25.8 
			 (1) The following statutes were used for the corresponding offences: Having possession of a controlled drug-Cocaine Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 S 5.(2) as amended by Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 Having possession of a controlled drug-Heroin Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 S 5.(2) as amended by Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 S.157 Sch.8 Having possession of a controlled drug-MDMA (Ecstasy) Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 S 5.(2) as amended by Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply-Cocaine Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, S.5(3) Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply-Heroin Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. S.5(3) Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply-MDMA Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, S.5(3) (2) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (4) The sentenced column may exceed those found guilty as it may be the case that a defendant found guilty, and committed for sentence at the Crown court, may be sentenced in the following year. (5) Absolute and conditional discharge, fine, community sentence, suspended sentence and otherwise dealt with.  Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice.

Drugs: Sentencing

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effects on the prison population of implementation of the provisions of the Drugs Act 2005.

Crispin Blunt: An assessment of the Drugs Act 2005 was published in September 2010. It was not possible to measure the Act's overall impact on the prison population as part of this assessment. However, we do know that provisions in the Act have increased the number of those drug tested and referred into treatment through the Criminal Justice System.
	Building on this, the Government's sentencing and rehabilitation Green Paper and its Drug Strategy both include commitments to encourage drug-misusing offenders into recovery based treatment.
	In prisons we will: work with health services to reshape existing drug treatment; establish drug recovery wings focusing on recovery and abstinence; and connect offenders with community drug recovery services on release.
	In the community, we want sentencing reforms to encourage offenders to engage with recovery based treatment and tough community sentences.

Employment Tribunals Service

Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many employment tribunals were cancelled less than 24 hours before the scheduled sitting in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jonathan Djanogly: Listing of hearings in cases (including the cancellation, postponement or adjournment of cases) is a judicial matter. Once listed, 'cancellations' can occur, for example, where the claim is resolved, settled or withdrawn before the hearing is scheduled to take place; where a postponement request is made by one or both of the parties and accepted by the tribunal; or where the employment tribunal itself postpones the hearing on its own volition.
	The following table shows all such cancellations over the course of the financial year 2009-10 that were effected within 24 hours of the scheduled sitting. The data provided are broken down to show cases that were cancelled (including postponed) on the actual day of the hearing, and on the previous day.
	
		
			  Settlements ,withdrawals and postponements notified prior to or on day of hearing 
			   Settlements/  withdrawals  Postponement by tribunal  Postponement by claimant  Postponement by respondent  Total cancellations 
			 Notified day of hearing 1,240 239 1,458 19 2,956 
			 Notified day prior to hearing 4,072 1,649 8,028 271 14,020 
			  Source: Employment Tribunal Central database February 2011

Legal Aid

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  whether he has discussed with ministerial colleagues the findings in paragraph 27 of the impact assessment of his cumulative proposals for reform of legal aid in respect of the potential effects on  (a) resource costs for and  (b) transfer payments to other departments of any significant reduction in fairness of dispute resolution arising from implementation of his proposals;
	(2)  whether he has discussed with  (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and  (b) the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills the findings in paragraph 27 of the impact assessment of his cumulative proposals for reform of legal aid in respect of the potential effects on levels of (i) economic efficiency and (ii) business efficiency of any significant reduction in fairness of dispute resolution arising from implementation of his proposals;
	(3)  whether he has discussed with the Secretary of State for  (a) the Home Department and  (b) Communities and Local Government the findings in paragraph 27 of the impact assessment of his cumulative proposals for reform of legal aid in respect of the potential effect on levels of (i) social inclusion and (ii) criminality of any significant reduction in fairness of dispute resolution arising from implementation of his proposals.

Jonathan Djanogly: Extensive discussions, at both ministerial and official levels, have been conducted with other Government Departments on a range of issues. These discussions will continue as we finalise proposals.

Legal Aid

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what discussions he has had with not-for-profit advice organisations on the likely effects on them of loss of funding streams from legal aid budgets; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan Djanogly: I have met with a number of representatives from the not-for-profit organisations recently to discuss the proposals for the reform of legal aid in England and Wales.
	Not-for-profit providers receive funding from a variety of sources including legal aid. However income from legal aid represents a minority of the funding of the not for profit advice sector.
	We are working closely with colleagues in other Departments who fund not-for-profit advice providers to identify how best to take a cross-Government approach to this issue. I recently met with the Minister for Civil Society, Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (Mr Hurd) to discuss how this can best be achieved.

Legal Aid

Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of claims brought against Government Departments and other public bodies by employees under no-win, no-fee contracts with their legal representatives.

Dominic Grieve: I have been asked to reply.
	No estimate has been made of the cost to the public purse of such claims. Insufficient data are available to support the making of a meaningful estimate.
	Most employment, and employment-related, claims against Government are taken in the Employment Tribunals. Under existing procedural rules governing claims made by employees before the Employment Tribunals, there is no requirement to notify a respondent employer that a conditional fee (no-win, no-fee) agreement (CFA) is in place, unlike in the civil Courts. Legal representatives will not divulge such an arrangement unless they are required to as, first, they have an obligation of confidentiality to their clients;, secondly, knowledge of such will give negotiating advantage to their opponents; and, thirdly, Employment Tribunals are generally a no costs jurisdiction, where awards of costs are not made unless the claim or defence has been "frivolous, vexatious or otherwise unreasonable". In the circumstances, it would not be possible to keep any sort of accurate record of the incidence of such agreements in these cases, or to make an assessment of their impact upon the outcomes of claims.

Legal Aid: Mental Health

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will discuss with the Secretary of State for Health the potential effects of the proposed removal of legal aid funding for face-to-face assistance with financial entitlement matters on the incidence of mental ill-health arising from such matters.

Jonathan Djanogly: We have recently had discussions with a number of ministerial colleagues regarding a range of matters affecting our respective Departments, including the potential impact of the proposals for reform of legal aid.
	An impact on the incidence of mental health issues, as a result of the proposals for reform of legal aid, has not been identified at this time. However, our consultation "Proposals for the Reform of Legal Aid in England and Wales" closed on 14 February 2011 and we are in the process of considering the responses. If appropriate, it will be addressed in our response paper and the associated Impact Assessments and Equality Impact Assessments, which is planned to be published in the spring.

Legal Aid: Personal Injury and Negligence

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has for future provision of legal aid to people in respect of  (a) personal injury and  (b) clinical negligence cases; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan Djanogly: On 15 November the Secretary of State for Justice announced the publication of a consultation on a package of proposals for the reform of legal aid. The consultation proposes that legal aid ceases to be available for clinical negligence matters.
	Most personal injury cases were removed from the scope of the civil legal aid scheme by the Access to Justice Act 1999. Legal aid funding is still available for claims, including personal injury claims, against public authorities alleging serious wrong-doing, abuse of position of power or significant breach of human rights. We have proposed replacing the existing "serious wrong-doing" ground for funding, and replacing it with "negligent acts or omissions falling very far below the required standard of care" as a ground for funding these claims.
	Funding is currently available for any claim, including a personal injury claim, which has a significant wider public interest. The current consultation proposes to abolish the rule which brings back into the scope of civil legal aid any case which has a significant wider public interest. While the Government recognises that public interest is an important factor, which should continue to be reflected in the Funding Code merits criteria for granting civil legal aid, we do not consider that it should be either a solely determinative factor in deciding whether legal aid should be granted, or a basis for bringing back into scope otherwise excluded cases.
	Funding is available for claims, including personal injury claims, arising from allegations of abuse of a child or vulnerable adult, or sexual assault.
	We have proposed that these cases remain within the scope of civil legal aid. Funding is available for housing cases, as defined by the civil legal aid Funding Code, including for housing personal injury claims. We have proposed that housing personal injury claims are removed from the scope of civil legal aid.
	Legal aid is also available for advice on applications to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. We have proposed that this advice ceases to be in scope for legal aid because the application is a straight-forward one and assistance is available from the authority.
	The consultation paper: "Proposals for the Reform of Legal Aid in England and Wales" is available at the Ministry of Justice website at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/consultations/legal-aid-reform-151110.htm

Legal Aid: Rochdale

Simon Danczuk: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on the provision of legal aid in Rochdale constituency in each of the last five years.

Jonathan Djanogly: The information requested is not readily available as for example payments to criminal barristers cannot easily be broken down by the location of the barrister or client. The information therefore could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Legal Aid: Rochdale

Simon Danczuk: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people in Rochdale constituency received legal aid in each of the last five years.

Jonathan Djanogly: The Legal Services Commission (LSC) is responsible for administering the legal aid scheme in England and Wales.
	The LSC does not record the number of people who receive legal aid, but instead records the number of 'acts of assistance'. One individual may receive a number of separate acts of assistance, and one act of assistance can help more than one person.
	The following table show the numbers of acts of assistance delivered by legal aid providers with postcodes falling within the Rochdale constituency.
	
		
			  Rochdale constituency-legal aid acts of assistance( 1) 
			   Financial year 
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 Civil Representation certificates issued 377 363 305 303 364 
			 Legal Help New Matter Starts in Civil and Immigration 2,454 2,134 2,046 2,099 2,070 
			 Crime Higher case volumes 354 358 412 472 487 
			 Crime Lower claim volumes 5,132 4,762 4,923 5039 4,953 
			 Total 8,317 7,617 7,686 7,913 7,874 
			 (1) The figures do not include legal aid received via telephone advice, the Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme, telephone triage, or family mediation.

Legal Aid: Social Security Benefits

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will estimate the savings that would accrue to the Exchequer from ceasing to provide legal aid for advice in relation to decisions about welfare benefits in terms of  (a) total managed expenditure and  (b) annually managed expenditure in respect of each department; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan Djanogly: There is no intention to make such an estimate; nor would it be possible to do so to any degree of accuracy.

Legal Aid: Third Sector

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he has made an estimate of  (a) the number of not-for-profit organisations who rely on funding from legal aid streams and  (b) the number of such organisations that would cease to operate without legal aid funding; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan Djanogly: The LSC hold legal aid contracts with a number of not-for-profit organisations. However, this information is being collated and I will write to the hon. Member as soon as it is available. Many not-for-profit providers receive funding from a variety of sources including legal aid. However income from legal aid represents a minority of the funding of the not-for-profit advice sector. It is therefore not possible to determine with any certainty which organisations would cease to operate without legal aid.
	We are working closely with colleagues in other Departments who fund advice providers, to identify how best to take a cross-Government approach to this issue. I recently met with the Minister for Civil Society, Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (Mr Hurd) to discuss how this can best be achieved.
	We published initial impact assessments and equality impact assessments along with our reform proposals, which considered the effect on the not for profit sector. We sought the views of not for profit organisations during the consultation which ended on 14 February. The consultation response which is due to be published in the spring will feature accompanying full impact assessments and equality impact assessments.

Legal Profession

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of lawyers per 10,000 head of population.

Jonathan Djanogly: The number of authorised persons, who are often referred to as lawyers, providing reserved legal activities in England and Wales at 1 April 2009, as collated by the Legal Services Board, totals 140,124. Of those approximately 113,000 were solicitors. The Office for National Statistics estimates that the mid-year population of England and Wales for 2009 totalled 54,809,100. This equates to approximately 26 'lawyers' per 10,000 head of population in England and Wales.

National Offender Management Service: Qualifications

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of all those employed at the  (a) head office and  (b) regional offices of the National Offender Management Service have (i) a probation qualification, (ii) a prison service qualification, (iii) experience in probation work and (iv) experience in prison service work.

Crispin Blunt: Information about the qualifications and experience of individual members of staff is not held centrally. To obtain the information requested would involve identifying and contacting sources of information in many different locations and would thus incur disproportionate cost.

Offensive Weapons: Prison Sentences

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many people were  (a) convicted,  (b) cautioned and  (c) given custodial sentences for possession of a blade or an instrument in each year between 1991 and 2010;
	(2)  how many people were  (a) convicted,  (b) cautioned and  (c) given custodial sentences for possession of an article with a blade or point in each year between 1991 and 2010;
	(3)  how many people were  (a) convicted,  (b) cautioned and  (c) given custodial sentences for possession of a knife in each year between 1991 and 2010.

Crispin Blunt: The number of persons cautioned and the number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty and sentenced at all courts for offences relating to possession of an article with a blade or point, England and Wales 1991 to 2009 (latest available) are shown in the tables.
	Data for 2010 are planned for publication in the spring of 2011.
	
		
			  Persons cautioned, and the number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty and sentenced at all courts for offences relating to possession of an article with a blade or point( 1) , England and Wales 1991 to 2009( 2,3,4,5) 
			   1991  1992  1993  1994  1995  1996( 6)  1997  1998  1999  2000 
			 Cautioned 704 1,055 1,282 1,292 1,512 1,302 1,629 1,976 1,663 1,758 
			
			 Proceeded against 2,397 2,640 2,553 3,366 3,474 3,605 4,489 4,888 4,566 4,673 
			 Found guilty 1,737 1,848 1,852 2,502 2,559 2,665 3,360 3,805 3,548 3,555 
			 Sentenced(8) 1,729 1,847 1,853 2,501 2,558 2,666 3,360 3,804 3,564 3,562 
			  Of which:   
			 Immediate custody 5 1 1 4 5 62 375 550 536 506 
			 Other sentences(9) 1,724 1,846 1,852 2,497 2,553 2,604 2,985 3,254 3,028 3,056 
		
	
	
		
			   2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008( 7)  2009 
			 Cautioned 1,652 1,805 1,746 2,374 3,154 3,503 3,460 2,589 1,641 
			   
			 Proceeded against 5,823 6,963 6,928 7,352 7,319 7,699 7,404 7,547 9,235 
			 Found guilty 4,361 5,338 5,396 5,890 6,005 6,369 6,169 6,368 7,646 
			 Sentenced(8) 4,364 5,326 5,399 5,908 6,002 6,334 6,166 6,453 7,678 
			  Of which:  
			 Immediate custody 592 773 761 815 970 1,075 1,065 1,377 1,675 
			 Other sentences(9) 3,772 4,553 4,638 5,093 5,032 5,259 5,101 5,076 6,003 
			 (1) Offences used: Criminal Justice Act 1988 S.139 as amended by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 S.3-Having an article with blade or point in public place Criminal Justice Act 1988 S.139A (1) & (5)(a) added by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 S.4(1)-Having an article with blade or point on school premises (2) The cautions statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been cautioned for two or more offences at the same time the principal offence is the more serious offence. (3) From 1 June 2000 the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and warnings. These are included in the totals. (4) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (5) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (6) In July 2006 this offence changed from being a summary to a triable either-way offence. (7) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July, and August 2008. (8) The sentenced column may exceed those found guilty as it may be the case that a defendant found guilty, and committed for sentence at the Crown court, may be sentenced in the following year. (9) Includes: Absolute/conditional discharge, Community Sentence, Suspended Sentence and Otherwise dealt with.  Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services in the Ministry of Justice

Offensive Weapons: Prison Sentences

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offences involving the possession of a knife or offensive weapon resulted in a  (a) caution,  (b) absolute or conditional discharge,  (c) fine,  (d) community sentence,  (e) suspended sentence,  (f) immediate custody and  (g) other disposal in each year from 1991 to 2011.

Crispin Blunt: Information collated centrally by the Ministry of Justice does not include the circumstances of each case other than where specified in a statute. It is not possible therefore to separately identify from this information those offences proceeded against which also included the possession of a knife or offensive weapon.

Prison Sentences

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many people were convicted of burglary and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many people were convicted of sexual assault and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(3)  how many people were convicted of grievous bodily harm and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(4)  how many people were convicted of rape and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(5)  how many people were convicted of manslaughter and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(6)  how many people were convicted of attempted murder and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(7)  how many people were convicted of forgery and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(8)  how many people were convicted of fraud and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(9)  how many people were convicted of theft of a motor vehicle and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(10)  how many people were convicted of theft from a person and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(11)  how many people were convicted of robbery and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(12)  how many people were convicted of sexual activity with a child under 16 and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(13)  how many people were convicted of sexual activity with a child under 13 and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(14)  how many people were convicted of sexual assault of a female and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(15)  how many people were convicted of rape of a male and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(16)  how many people were convicted of rape of a female and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(17)  how many people were convicted of sexual assault on a male and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(18)  how many people were convicted of child abduction and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(19)  how many people were convicted of abandoning children aged under two years and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(20)  how many people were convicted of cruelty or neglect of children and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(21)  how many people were convicted of wounding or other acts endangering life and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(22)  how many people were convicted of causing death by aggravated vehicle-taking and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(23)  how many people were convicted of causing death by driving while unlicensed or uninsured and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(24)  how many people were convicted of causing death of a child or vulnerable person and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(25)  how many people were convicted of causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(26)  how many people were convicted of manslaughter due to diminished responsibility and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(27)  how many people were convicted of causing death by reckless driving and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(28)  how many people were convicted of threat or conspiracy to murder and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years, (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(29)  how many people were convicted of perverting the course of justice and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(30)  how many people were convicted of violent disorder and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(31)  how many people were convicted of kidnapping and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(32)  how many people were convicted of blackmail and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years, ( c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(33)  how many people were convicted of intent to supply a controlled drug and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(34)  how many people were convicted of possession of a controlled drug and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(35)  how many people were convicted of criminal damage and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(36)  how many people were convicted of arson and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(37)  how many people were convicted of common assault and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year, (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(38)  how many people were convicted of dangerous driving and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(39)  how many people were convicted of a firearms offence and received a custodial sentence of less than  (a) four years,  (b) three years,  (c) two years,  (d) one year,  (e) six months and  (f) four months in the latest period for which figures are available.

Crispin Blunt: The number of persons found guilty at all courts for selected offences, by sentence breakdown and sentence length, England and Wales 2009 (latest available) is shown in the following table.
	Data for 2010 are planned for publication in the spring of 2011.
	
		
			  Number of persons found guilty at all courts for selected offences, by sentence breakdown and sentence length, England and Wales, 2009( 1, 2) 
			  Length of sentence  
			  Offences  Found guilty  Sentenced( 3)  Immediate custody  Less than 4 months  Over 4 months and up to 6 months  Over 6 months and up to 1 year  Over 1 year and up to 2 years  Over 2 years and up to 3 years  Over 3 years and up to 4 years  Over 4 years  Other disposals( 4) 
			 Burglary 22,973 22,758 10,026 2,153 961 1,890 2,259 1,685 653 425 12,732 
			 Sexual assault 2,070 2,060 1,053 88 44 154 259 177 110 221 1,007 
			 Grievous bodily harm(5) 6,463 6,440 4,147 56 113 808 1,320 627 409 814 2,293 
			 Rape 997 999 941 1 1 3 18 31 62 825 58 
			 Manslaughter 219 219 202 - - 4 17 35 18 128 17 
			 Attempted murder 91 92 84 - - - - - - 84 8 
			 Forgery 4,290 4,294 2,609 359 804 1,206 197 22 13 8 1,685 
			 Fraud 16,732 16,638 2,778 970 364 681 475 159 63 66 13,860 
			 Theft of a motor vehicle 852 851 236 140 41 25 24 4 2 - 615 
			 Theft from a person 5,899 6,122 1,959 974 305 346 226 69 29 10 4,163 
			 Robbery offences 8,644 8,663 5,155 121 147 739 1,313 1,040 773 1,022 3,508 
			 Sexual activity with a child under 16 762 751 472 7 9 50 138 109 78 81 279 
			 Sexual activity with a child under 13 207 201 86 3 3 13 22 10 13 22 115 
			 Sexual assault of a female 1,867 1,851 935 83 41 137 225 156 97 196 916 
			 Rape of a male 65 66 56 - - - 5 2 5 44 10 
			 Rape of a female 932 933 885 1 1 3 13 29 57 781 48 
			 Sexual assault on a male 203 209 118 5 3 17 34 21 13 25 91 
			 Child abduction 55 56 16 - 1 4 6 3 - 2 40 
			 Abandoning children 2 2 1 - 1 - - - - - 1 
			 Cruelty or neglect of children 720 714 158 25 19 42 38 17 7 10 556 
			 Wounding or other acts endangering life 1,886 1,884 1,626 12 8 29 131 291 341 814 258 
			 Causing death by aggravated vehicle taking offences 10 9 7 - 1 2 - 1 3 - 2 
			 Causing death by driving unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured drivers 11 10 1 - 1 - - - - - 9 
			 Causing death of a child or vulnerable person 13 13 11 - - 3 2 1 - 5 2 
			 Causing death by careless driving under the influence of drink and drugs 35 35 33 - 1 2 1 6 7 16 2 
			 Manslaughter due to diminished responsibility 8 8 4 - - - - - 1 3 4 
			 Causing death by reckless driving 225 233 218 3 5 14 51 41 29 75 15 
			 Threat or conspiracy to murder 417 397 182 20 28 33 50 21 6 24 215 
			 Perverting the course of justice 1,797 1,790 748 245 154 224 94 16 14 1 1,042 
			 Violent disorder 466 461 268 8 9 84 133 28 5 1 193 
			 Kidnapping 427 426 310 - 8 31 70 58 41 102 116 
			 Blackmail 176 177 132 1 4 11 33 24 24 35 45 
			 Intent to supply a controlled drug 6,349 6,394 3,701 102 114 478 1,031 879 591 506 2,693 
			 Possession of a controlled drug 41,306 41,071 1,286 1,078 70 45 44 15 11 23 39,785 
			 Criminal damage 39,550 39,497 1,800 1,636 50 44 41 14 9 6 37,697 
			 Arson 1,461 1,449 549 43 24 48 128 101 90 115 900 
			 Common assault 52,738 52,849 6,787 5,676 1,101 8 2 - - - 46,062 
			 Dangerous driving 3,386 3,483 1,309 224 250 615 220 - - - 2,174 
			 Firearms(6) 1,850 1,852 827 52 31 98 123 122 44 357 1,025 
			 
			 Total 226,154 225,957 51,716 14,086 4,717 7,891 8,743 5,814 3,618 6,847 174,241 
			 (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) The sentenced column may exceed those found guilty as it may be the case that a defendant found guilty, and committed for sentence at the Crown court, may be sentenced in the following year. (4) Includes: Absolute/conditional discharge, Community Sentence, Suspended Sentence and Otherwise dealt with. (5) Grievous Bodily Harm offences form part of the offence group of malicious wounding offences. (6) Includes possession, certificate related and miscellaneous firearms offences.  Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services-Ministry of Justice.

Prison Service: ICT

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice who in his Department signed off the contract for central procurement of IT equipment in prisons.

Crispin Blunt: The Quantum contract between the Secretary of State for the Home Department and Electronic Data Systems Ltd for the provision of ICT to HM Prison Services was signed by Claire Pelham, Director of Corporate Affairs of HM Prison Service on 29 February 2000.

Prisoners: Ex-servicemen

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether it is the policy of prison establishments to ask inmates at reception whether they have served in the armed forces.

Crispin Blunt: Prison reception staff are not required to ask newly arrived prisoners whether they have served in the armed forces. However, prisoners have the opportunity to discuss aspects of their background with staff during the induction and assessment processes. Governors of more than 100 prison establishments have made resources available to support the Veterans in Custody Support scheme, which encourages veteran prisoners to disclose their status, if they chose to do so.

Prisons: Asbestos

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what steps he has taken to identify the presence of asbestos in the fabric of prisons; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  in which prisons it is known that asbestos is present in the fabric of the buildings; and when the asbestos was detected in each case;
	(3)  whether asbestos was known to be present in the fabric of Ford Open Prison on 31 December 2010; and whether the asbestos was damaged or disturbed as a result of the recent disturbance;
	(4)  in which prisons work has taken place to remove asbestos from the fabric of the building in each of the last 10 years; what the cost of such work was in each case; what work to remove asbestos from each previously identified prison with an identified asbestos presence is planned in each of the next three years; and if he will make a statement;
	(5)  what recent steps have been taken at each prison establishment to  (a) identify,  (b) manage and  (c) remove asbestos from the fabric of the buildings; and if he will make a statement.

Crispin Blunt: A comprehensive survey of the estate for asbestos took place in 2002-03, and a programme to remove high risk asbestos was implemented following this review.

Prisons: Visits

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much of the money paid to friends and relatives to assist them in visiting prisoners was provided for subsistence costs in the latest period for which figures are available.

Crispin Blunt: Financial assistance has been available to families to visit prisoners since the 1950s when it was run by the National Assistance Board on an individual needs basis. The formal Assisted Prisons Visits Scheme has been in existence since 1970 and became part of the National Offender Management Service in 2008.
	Currently the scheme has two rates of subsistence; a rate where travel time is between five and 10 hours of £2.55 and a rate where travelling takes in excess often hours of £5.10.
	In the financial year 2009-10 the total amount paid to friends and relatives under the scheme was £196,000.

Prisons: Visits

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will estimate the administrative cost of reimbursing relatives of prisoners for prison visits by girocheque in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will estimate the cost of making such payments by BACS.

Crispin Blunt: The Assisted Prison Visits Unit made 59,501 girocheque payments in the year 2009-10 at an estimated inclusive cost of £98,000. It is estimated that payment by BACS could have an inclusive cost of £15,000 per year.
	A proposal is actively being pursued to upgrade current APVU systems.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Arts: Public Participation

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of long-term trends in  (a) visits to art galleries,  (b) visits to museums,  (c) attendance at concerts,  (d) attendance at musical theatre,  (e) attendance at cinema,  (f) attendance at theatre and  (g) television viewing.

Edward Vaizey: The Department assesses attendance trends at cultural events and television watching in the Taking Part survey. The information set out in the following tables is from the August 2010 published reports.
	
		
			  Percentage 
			  In the last 12 months, have you been to a...  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 Film at a cinema or other venue 52.3 51.9 51.7 50.2 54.7 
			 Play/drama 22.7 21.7 22.4 21.0 21.4 
			 Musical - - - 22.4 23.5 
			 Museum/gallery 42.3 41.5 43.5 44.5 46.7 
		
	
	
		
			  Percentage 
			  How many hours a day do you watch TV for, on average?  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Never watch TV 1.4 1.4 1.5 1.8 
			 Less than 1 hour 7.6 7.8 7.6 7.7 
			 About 1 hour 11.8 11.9 12.3 11.6 
			 About 2 hours 26.8 27.2 27.4 26.6 
			 About 3 hours 22.5 21.7 21.2 22.7 
			 About 4 hours 14.7 14.6 14.6 14.2 
			 About 5 hours or more 14.7 14.7 14.9 14.7 
			 Don't have a TV 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.5 
		
	
	It does not record attendance at concerts, and the data for museums and art galleries cannot be divided between the two categories.

Broadband: Devon

Anne-Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what recent estimate he has made of the number of households in Devon with a broadband connection speed of less than 2mbps.

Edward Vaizey: The Digital Britain report (June 2009) reported that 12-15% of the telephone lines in Devon were unsuitable for broadband at 2Mbps.
	Broadband Delivery UK is assessing current broadband provision at community level across the UK in its work to deliver the coalition Government's objective to facilitate universal broadband access of at least 2Mbps and achieve the best superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015.

Broadband: Wales

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what areas of North Wales are included in the pilot area for superfast broadband announced on 10 February 2011.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 15 February 2011
	The funding announced by the Chancellor will help bring superfast broadband to hard-to-reach areas and extend superfast broadband to Pwllheli and the surrounding areas of North Wales.

Departmental Carbon Emissions

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how much his Department spent on carbon offsetting in each of the last three years; and to which companies payments for carbon offsetting were made in each such year.

John Penrose: The Department has spent the following amounts on carbon offsetting over the last three years.
	
		
			   Companies to whom payment m ade  Amount (£) 
			 2009-10 EDF Trading Ltd 84 Government Carbon Offsetting Fund 2,882 
			 2008-09 Government Carbon Offsetting Fund 3,469 
			 2007-08 Government Carbon Offsetting Fund 3,469

Digital Economy Act 2010

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what definition of the term economically sterile traffic his Department uses; and what plans his Department has to remove such traffic from networks.

Edward Vaizey: The Department does not have a standard definition of the term "economically sterile traffic", and does not have a policy dedicated to removing such traffic from networks.

Digital Economy Act 2010

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the cost to Ofcom of implementation of sections 3 to 16 of the Digital Economy Act 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: Ofcom is expected to incur one-off costs of £5.8 million, and ongoing costs of £5 million per annum as a result of its responsibilities under the Digital Economy Act. These responsibilities include monitoring and enforcement activities, devising a code of practice, and the establishment of an appeals mechanism.
	These estimates can be found in the impact assessment which accompanied the draft statutory instrument on cost-sharing for the initial obligations under the Digital Economy Act.
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/business-sectors/docs/i/10-1164-impact-assessment-cost-sharing-consultation.pdf

Digital Economy Act 2010

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport for what reasons his Department has decided to impose 25 per cent. loss of costs for implementation of sections 3 to 16 of the Digital Economy Act 2010 on internet service providers.

Edward Vaizey: Placing part of the costs for the implementation of the initial obligations under the Digital Economy Act on internet service providers means that they have a real incentive to adopt efficient and effective systems for issuing notifications and producing copyright infringement lists.
	This apportionment of costs was consulted upon in 2010. The consultation document, along with the individual responses and Government response can be found at
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/Consultations/online-infringement-of-copyright?cat=closedwithresponse

Digital Economy Act 2010

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the effects on consumer demand for internet broadband of implementation of sections 3 to 16 of the Digital Economy Act 2010.

Edward Vaizey: The impact assessment which accompanied the Digital Economy Act contains this information. Assuming that internet service providers fully pass down to consumers the annual costs incurred by complying with the initial obligations of the Digital Economy Act, it is estimated that the increased cost to consumers would have a relatively small but permanent effect of reducing demand for broadband connection by between 10,000-40,000.
	Background information and supporting evidence for this estimate can be found at
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100511084737/http:/interactive.bis.gov.uk/digitalbritain/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Digital-Economy-Act-IAs-final.pdf

EU Electronic Communications Framework

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what steps he plans to take in respect of implementation of the EU Electronic Communications Framework.

Edward Vaizey: DCMS is currently implementing revisions to the EU Electronic Communications Framework. The deadline for implementation is 25th May 2011.
	Following a public consultation which ran between September and December last year officials are currently analysing responses.
	We will publish the responses to that consultation and revised impact assessments In March and lay the statutory instruments that will enable legislative change in April.

Sport

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the trends in long-term participation rates in each region for  (a) football,  (b) cricket,  (c) rugby,  (d) volleyball,  (e) netball,  (f) swimming and  (g) hockey by age and sex.

Hugh Robertson: The detail on participation in these sports is contained in the surveys I referred to in my reply to the hon. Member on 7 February 2011,  Official Report, column 11W. In addition, I understand that Sport England has already contacted the hon. Member to offer their help in providing any further specific pieces of information that he would like. I will, of course, answer any questions that he may have in this House, but hope that the Sport England contact will also prove helpful.

Sport: Finance

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 7 February 2011,  Official Report, column 12W, on sport: finance, what proportion of the grant-in-aid received by Sport England in each year from 2000-01 to 2009-10 was spent in each region; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of such grant in aid funding that will be spent in each region in each year from 2010-11 to 2015-16.

Hugh Robertson: A regional breakdown of grant in aid received by Sport England is not held and to commission this information would exceed the disproportionate cost limit.

Television: Children

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the number of children with a television in their bedroom.

Edward Vaizey: The Secretary of State has made no estimate.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces: Blood

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent steps he has taken to ensure the safety and security of blood supplies to members of the armed forces; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: All the blood components received from NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) are provided under a service level agreement, and as such, the blood supplied to members of the armed forces will be as safe as that given to any other NHS patient. We are not aware of any new recent steps that have been taken with regards to blood safety.

Armed Forces: Blood

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers received a blood transfusion as part of their medical care in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Andrew Robathan: Members of the armed forces receive treatment in a number of NHS hospitals in the UK, as well as in hospitals abroad. This information is not held centrally and it would be impossible to establish how many people have received a blood transfusion as part of their medical care, without interrogating individuals' medical records. This would entail gaining permission to access medically confidential information on an individual basis and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Blood

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration he has given to the use of pathogen reduction technology in healthcare provision for armed forces personnel; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: In common with all new medical techniques and technologies, the Defence Medical Services will consider the merits of pathogen reduction technology as appropriate. New technology will be subject to national best practice and guidance, and only introduced once licensed and demonstrated to be safe and effective. The Advisory Group on military medicine will advise the surgeon general on the safety and efficacy of new approaches to patient management.

Armed Forces: Blood

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether  (a) the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine and  (b) the Ministry of Defence Hospital Units have considered the use of pathogen reduction technology for use on blood products; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: The Royal Centre for Defence Medicine and the Ministry of Defence Hospital Units are essentially administrative units for the management of Defence Medical Services (DMS) personnel who work within the host NHS Trusts and are not responsible for the delivery of clinical care. The care given at each of these sites, including consideration of pathogen reduction technology, is delivered in accordance with the clinical policies, guidelines and governance of the relevant NHS Trust.

Armed Forces: Blood

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether staff at the Defence Medical Services establishment have carried out any studies into the use of pathogen reduction technology for use on blood products to treat wounded armed services personnel; and what representations he has received on this issue.

Andrew Robathan: On the basis of the work conducted in 2009 by the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (SaBTO, a UK independent non-departmental public body run by the Department of Health) into the reduction of risk of bacterial contamination of platelets, the Defence Medical Services have not conducted any studies into the use of pathogen reduction technology on blood products for the treatment of injured service personnel.

Astute Class Submarines

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date long-lead items for the Astute-class submarines, including reactors, have been purchased or ordered to date.

Liam Fox: The requirement for, and timing of, ordering long lead items varies between submarine class.
	The dates that orders were placed for long lead items including reactors for the Astute Class submarines are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Long lead items Dates ordered 
			 Boat 1-3 March 1997 
			 Boat 4 December 2003, April 2004, April 2005, March 2007 
			 Boat 5 April 2005, January 2008, September 2008 
			 Boat 6 August 2006, March 2010

Defence: Procurement

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the value of each industrial participation contract involving foreign firms in each of the last 25 years;
	(2)  if he will estimate the value of industrial participation by foreign firms in each region of the UK in each of the last 25 years;

Peter Luff: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not have industrial participation (IP) contracts. It is the MOD's policy to invite IP proposals from foreign bidders when they are bidding for MOD contracts. However, IP proposals are not considered as part of the evaluation of a tender, either at selection or award. Individual cases of IP within contracts are not readily available, could only be given at disproportionate cost and would be commercially sensitive. However, since 1987 the cumulative value of IP arrangements is around £10 billion. This can be broken down as follows:
	
		
			   Value  (£ million) 
			 1987 7 
			 1989 10 
			 1992 187 
			 1994 1,415 
			 1995 1,370 
			 1996 1,635 
			 1997 268 
			 1998 43 
			 1999 427 
			 2000 860 
			 2001 57 
			 2002 624 
			 2003 215 
			 2005 341 
			 2006 206 
			 2007 1,964 
			 2008 124 
			 2009 227 
			 2010 398 
			 Total 10,378

Departmental Travel

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on travel in each month since April 2010.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 10 January 2011
	 Ministry of Defence monthly expenditure on travel since April 2010 has been as follows:
	
		
			   Expenditure (£ million) 
			 April 2010 16.0 
			 May 2010 14.5 
			 June 2010 15.2 
			 July 2010 17.2 
			 August 2010 13.9 
			 September 2010 13.0 
			 October 2010 14.8 
			 November 2010 14.2 
			 December 2010 14.9 
		
	
	These figures include, for both service and civilian staff, the cost of travel and accommodation booked centrally, the reimbursement of expenses incurred when using their own vehicle for duty journeys, most rail fares not booked centrally and some car hire costs. The figures also include expenses reimbursed to civilian staff for overnight accommodation, subsistence, taxi, bus and underground fares, parking charges and road tolls, and most of their air fares not booked centrally. Costs of the MOD's white fleet are not included as they are not recorded on a monthly basis; however, we estimate that white fleet contract and fuel costs averaged just under £4 million a month between April and September 2010. The figures also do not include all travel and subsistence costs reimbursed to service personnel, but we are currently improving the accessibility of these in the interests of transparency.
	By whatever means staff travel, they must do so in a way that is the most economical in both money and official time.
	I apologise for the delay in answering this question.

Ex-servicemen: Radiation Exposure

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for East Lothian of 13 January 2011,  Official Report, columns 747-48W, on ex-servicemen: radiation exposure, on what basis the independent contractor was selected; what the name of the contractor is; what the monetary value of the contract is; on what date the report on health audit is due for delivery; and whether the contract was advertised for competitive tender.

Andrew Robathan: Following informal contacts and meetings with a number of academic departments in 2009 and discussions with a range of stakeholders, including the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) identified an option to conduct an independent health needs audit in February 2010.
	The MOD statement of requirement detailed the need for external assistance to provide an assessment of the health needs of British nuclear test veterans and in particular to look at:
	their experience and impact of major or significant illness;
	their experiences of NHS and social care services, including access to, and availability of services and the service itself;
	common issues and themes from veterans' experiences, outcomes and recommendations to improve health and care services for nuclear test veterans.
	Stakeholders expressed a strong desire to undertake a study quickly. Oxford Healthcare Associates (now known as Miles and Green Associates) were identified as having the relevant levels of expertise and experience to undertake a study of this nature.
	Following a business case setting out procurement options, the intention to place a single source contract was advertised in the Defence Contracts Bulletin in 16 July 2010 and the contract was formally let on 26 August 2010.
	The value of the contract is £75,000 excluding VAT. Miles and Green are due to present their findings in the summer.

Hotels

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost to his Department was of overnight accommodation in  (a) April 2010 and  (b) each subsequent month.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 20 December 2010
	 Ministry of Defence expenditure on overnight accommodation since April 2010 has been as follows:
	
		
			   Expenditure (£ million) 
			 April 2010 3.2 
			 May 2010 3.3 
			 June 2010 3.8 
			 July 2010 3.9 
			 August 2010 3.3 
			 September 2010 2.6 
			 October 2010 3.6 
			 November 2010 3.8 
			 December 2010 3.4 
		
	
	These figures include accommodation costs paid centrally for both service and civilian staff and subsistence costs reimbursed to civilian staff for hotel and mess accommodation and for staying with family or friends for the purpose of undertaking official duty commitments. The figures do not include travel and subsistence costs reimbursed to service personnel but we are currently improving the accessibility of these in the interests of transparency.
	I apologise for the delay in answering this question.

Nuclear Submarines

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what type of reactor his Department plans to order for the Trident replacement submarines.

Liam Fox: It is planned that the Vanguard replacement submarine will be powered by a pressurised water reactor, as was the case with previous classes. The precise configuration of the reactor is under consideration as part of the Initial Gate decision.

Nuclear Submarines

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether steel for the substantial construction of the hull structure of the first boat of the Trident replacement programme will be made as a long-lead purchase prior to main gate.

Liam Fox: Yes. The specialist high strength steel needed for the hull structure for the first boat is included as a long-lead item in the Initial Gate Business Case for the programme. This is due to the length of time needed for the mill run, that means that the order must be placed prior to Main Gate in order not to put at risk the in-service date.

Nuclear Weapons

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence from which work streams the £750 million of savings to the public purse arising from the Trident replacement programme identified in the Strategic Defence and Security Review will be made.

Liam Fox: The Strategic Defence and Security Review identified a total of £1.2 billion of savings and £2 billion of deferrals over the next 10 years. These savings are attributable to submarine production, the nuclear warhead, supporting infrastructure and improved efficiency at the Atomic Weapons Establishment.

Nuclear Weapons

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence by what date he expects it will be necessary to reach a decision on the replacement or refurbishing of the UK nuclear warhead.

Liam Fox: As the Prime Minister informed the House on 19 October 2010,  Official Report, columns 797-826, the strategic defence and security review announced the deferral of the decision to replace or refurbish the UK nuclear warhead until the next Parliament.

Nuclear Weapons

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contracts his Department has agreed for work on the Trident replacement concept phase to date; and with which companies such contracts have been agreed.

Liam Fox: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology, my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Worcestershire (Peter Luff), on 29 November 2010,  Official Report, column 579W, to the hon. Member for Cambridge (Dr Huppert).

Nuclear Weapons

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has allocated to spend on the Trident replacement programme in each year between 2010-11 and 2015-16.

Liam Fox: Approximately £330 million was allocated to the programme to replace the Vanguard submarine for the financial year 2010-11. This includes expenditure on the Common Missile Compartment and on nuclear propulsion. The Initial Gate Business Case for the assessment phase of the programme to replace the Trident submarines is currently being reviewed.
	However, we do not routinely publish figures for anticipated annual project expenditure, as to do so would prejudice commercial interests. Moreover, in line with standard procedures, the programme will be subject to the normal Ministry of Defence annual planning round process.

Nuclear Weapons

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he plans to seek Parliamentary approval for long-lead orders prior to the Trident replacement main gate decision.

Liam Fox: I have no such plans. It is not normal practice to seek parliamentary approval for such matters. The Initial Gate approval is subject to the normal Ministry of Defence and Treasury process for category A programmes.

Trident Missiles

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  whether he had discussions with his US counterpart prior to the sharing of information with the Russian Federation on UK-designated Trident D5 missiles;
	(2)  whether he has made an assessment of the potential effects of the sharing of information between the US and Russia on UK-designated Trident D5 missiles on the operational status of the UK's Trident nuclear weapon system.

Liam Fox: Officials from the Ministry of Defence have regular discussions with US authorities on a range of Defence issues. Where discussions relate to the D5 Trident missiles they take place mainly under the auspices of the 1963 Polaris Sales Agreement (as amended for Trident).
	The US holds a stockpile of Trident D5 missiles from which the UK has purchased title to a number but these are unspecified in the stockpile. There are therefore no UK-designated missiles.
	Under the terms of the bilateral new strategic arms reduction treaty (New START) limited information is shared between the US and Russia. Procedures for transferring information have been in place since the 1991 START treaty and have been carried forward and updated for New START. Such information exchange between the US and Russia will have no detrimental effect on the operational status of the independent UK deterrent.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Atos Origin

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost to his Department is of meeting its contractual obligations to Atos Origin in each year of that contract.

Chris Grayling: The total cost of the DWP Medical Services contract with Atos Healthcare, a division of Atos Origin, is in the region of £100 million per annum. This estimate covers the total number of examinations undertaken across all benefits and also includes relating to written and verbal medical advice, fixed overheads, administrative costs, investment in new technology and other service improvements.
	Since the commencement of the current contract, the spend with Atos Healthcare is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   £ million 
			 1 September 2005 to March 2006 73.3 
			 2006-07 60.2 
			 2007-08 70.2 
			 2008-09 111.8 
			 2009-10 99.1 
		
	
	The cost incurred in 2010-11 to 30 November 2010 was £69.6 million.

Children: Maintenance

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to extend recognition of shared care parenting in the arrangement for the payment of child maintenance.

Maria Miller: The Government have recently published a consultation document-"Strengthening families, promoting parental responsibility: the future of child maintenance";
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/strengthening-families.pdf
	The Government want to encourage parents to reach family-based arrangements for child maintenance which will facilitate co-parenting and ongoing involvement of both parents in their children's lives. If parents can come to an agreement about shared care we would hope that they could also make a family-based arrangement suitable to both parties.
	The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (the Commission) is currently reviewing shared care arrangements as it develops plans to move to the new child maintenance system in 2012.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Pat McFadden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has spent on furniture since May 2010.

Chris Grayling: Since May 2010 the Department spent a total of £3.6 million on furniture; £3.3 million of which was supplied for a programme of works across the Jobcentre Plus network in response to the economic downturn.
	The Department signed a 20 year PFI contract with Telereal Trillium in 1998 for the provision of fully fitted and serviced accommodation for which the Department pays an all inclusive unitary charge. The £3.6 million was for furniture not included within the contract price.
	The total spend on furniture in 2009-10 was £8 million of which £7.4 million was in response to the economic downturn. The figure is net of a £3.5 million discount, which was negotiated with Telereal Trillium in delivering the programme of works in response to the economic downturn.
	The scope of the services provided by Telereal Trillium include the provision of all accommodation in over 1,000 buildings and services, which includes building maintenance, life cycle works, energy/utilities management and environment, internal reorganisation, porterage, security, health and safety, furniture and equipment, catering/security facilities and equipment, catering, waste management, internal and external cleaning, room booking service, and landscape maintenance.
	All the figures include the costs of moving and installing furniture and other items, such as electrical and white goods. These costs can be disaggregated only at disproportionate cost.

Dichloromethane

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what assessment has been made of the risks to human health and safety from the use of products containing dichloromethane for  (a) industrial or manufacturing purposes and  (b) non-industrial and domestic purposes; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  whether his Department is considering the merits of seeking a derogation from EU restrictions on the use of the chemical dichloromethane; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Grayling: Dichloromethane is a widely-used solvent, which can have narcotic effects at high concentrations.
	Between 1989 and 2007, 18 deaths and 56 non-fatal injuries relating to use of paint strippers containing this solvent were registered across Europe. There is now an EU-wide ban under the REACH regulation on the placing on the market of paint strippers containing this substance for consumers or untrained professionals which came into effect from 6 December 2010.
	In the UK the rate of injury from the use of these paint strippers is very low. The history of accidents involving this substance shows only five fatal accidents in 18 years, and an average of just over one other injury a year. Recognising that these paint strippers can be used safely, and their importance for UK businesses, the Government intend to take advantage of a derogation permitted in the ban to allow for the continued sale and use of these paint strippers for trained professionals.

Disability Living Allowance

Nicky Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will assess the merits of extending the higher rate disability living allowance component to people in employment aged 65 and over.

Maria Miller: The Government have no plans to extend the higher rate mobility component of disability living allowance to people in employment aged 65 and over.
	It is normal for pension and benefit schemes to contain different provisions for people at different stages of their lives. Disability living allowance and its proposed replacement-personal independence payment-are intended to help people who have the financial disadvantage of being disabled early, or relatively early, in life and have had less opportunity to work, earn and save.
	There is a wide range of support available to disabled people over the age of 65 including state pension, pension credit and attendance allowance. In addition, Access to Work scheme is also available to those aged 65 and over and can pay towards the equipment needed at work, adapting premises to meet needs, a support worker, and it can also pay towards the cost of getting to work for people who cannot use public transport.

Disability Living Allowance

Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many residents of Rossendale and Darwen constituency receive disability living allowance; and what the cost to the public purse was of such payments in the last 12 months.

Maria Miller: The latest available 12 months is the 2009-10 financial year. This information is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Great Britain, 2009/10-Rossendale and Darwen 
			   Number/£ million 
			 Caseload (thousand) 6.3 
			 Expenditure (£ million) 22.8 
			  Source: DWP statistical and accounting data 
		
	
	Parliamentary constituency expenditure data can be found at the following URL:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/pc_expenditure.xls
	Further benefit expenditure data can be found at the following URL:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/index.php?page=expenditure

Disability Living Allowance: Cancer

Anne Begg: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people with cancer who are eligible for disability living allowance who will be ineligible for the personal independence payment.

Maria Miller: We are currently consulting on the reform of disability living allowance with the key proposal of a new benefit, to be known as personal independence payment, which will be introduced from 2013. The Department has made no such estimate because disability living allowance and its successor are designed to recognise the extra costs associated with disability and are not based on diagnoses or condition.

Employment: Asylum

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what measures he is taking to increase the rate of employment of refugees;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to ensure that the Work programme's prime contractors in each lot provide appropriate support to refugee customers;
	(3)  what steps he is taking to ensure that refugees on active benefits receive appropriate pre-employment support;
	(4)  whether he has assessed the effect on the employment prospects of refugee customers of excluding refugees from the categories of customer eligible for early access onto the Work programme at the discretion of Jobcentre Plus;
	(5)  for what reason refugees are not included in the categories of customer eligible for early access onto the Work programme at the discretion of Jobcentre Plus listed in the invitation to tender for the Work programme;
	(6)  what the employment outcomes were for refugee customers who gained early access onto Flexible New Deal and New Deal programmes in 2008 and 2009;
	(7)  how many refugee customers gained early access onto Flexible New Deal and New Deal programmes between 2008 and 2010;
	(8)  what consideration he gave to continuing the eligibility of refugee customers for early access when the Work programme starts.

Chris Grayling: The Government are radically reforming the welfare to work system to provide an integrated programme of personalised help for people who are out of work. The support package includes enhancement of the provision offered by Jobcentre Plus, an improved skills offer through the Get Britain Working measures and tailored support via the Work programme. This flexible system will offer the right support at the right time to all people on benefits, including refugees.
	For the majority of refugees the flexible, personalised services that Jobcentre Plus will offer, alongside the Get Britain Working measures, will meet their needs.
	For those with significant disadvantages, early entry to the Work programme may be appropriate. Advisers will have the discretion to refer more vulnerable customers to the Work programme where it is clear that they would benefit from the type of assistance provided.
	The term refugee covers a broad spectrum of individuals with a wide range of differing needs. I therefore do not believe it would be appropriate to refer all refugees to the Work programme more quickly than other people receiving benefit.
	We have asked bidders for the Work programme contracts, without being prescriptive, to develop innovative models of support. These must be designed to be flexible and specifically tailored to meet the needs of individual customers and the local area. As part of the evaluation of process, the Department will consider bidders' ability to meet the diverse needs of different customers and customer groups.
	I am unable to provide the statistical information requested in relation to the position of refugees under previous programmes such as New Deal and Flexible New Deal. This information was not systematically collected at the time and cannot be obtained retrospectively.

Housing Benefit

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State of 24 January 2011,  Official Report, House of Lords, column 778, on the Housing Benefit (Amendment) Regulations 2010, when he expects to commission the independent review into housing benefit; whom he expects to undertake the review; what method he plans to use to identify the review team; when he expects the review to report; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: The Department is in the process of a procurement exercise with leading research organisations for the evaluation and working on the final specification of the project.
	We will work to the Government Social Research Code to commission a team of independent, external researchers who will undertake the review and fieldwork elements of the project by early April.
	The Department anticipates emerging findings of the implementation of the new measures will be available by the spring of 2012. Interim findings will be available by the summer of 2012. Draft final findings will be available by the winter of 2012-13.

Housing Benefit: Greater London

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many private rented homes in the  (a) City of London,  (b) London borough of Camden and  (c) London borough of Brent he estimates will be affordable to housing benefit recipients following the implementation of his reforms to housing benefit.

Steve Webb: The number of affordable properties will depend upon the total number of properties available to rent in each area, for which forecasts are not available, and the rent-setting decisions of landlords.

Injuries, Disease and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effects of reductions in funding to the Health and Safety Executive on the effective operation of the Reporting of Injuries, Disease and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995.

Chris Grayling: There have been no changes to the operation of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR) as a result of the spending review.
	The proposed change, about which HSE is currently consulting, was recommended in the report by Lord Young, "Common Sense, Common Safety". This report seeks to focus regulations where they are needed most to create a new system that is proportionate and not bureaucratic. Actions to implement the recommendations are being taken forward across Government in line with the timetable set out in his report.
	Incidents reported under the regulations are selected for investigation using HSE's published RIDDOR incident selection criteria. There has been no change to these criteria although HSE is considering the modalities for notification.
	Enforcement action in the event of an employer or other duty holder failing to report a death, injury, dangerous occurrence or case of an occupational disease is taken in accordance with its enforcement policy statement (EPS). Again there has been no change to this.

Injuries, Disease and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what consultation he has undertaken on changes to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995.

Chris Grayling: A formal, statutory consultation was launched by HSE on 31 January 2011 seeking views on the proposed amendment to regulation 3(2) of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR). The consultation closes on 9 May 2011. A copy of the consultation document can be viewed at
	http://www.hse.gov.uk/consult/condocs/cd233.htm

Jobcentres

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he next plans to visit the jobcentre which serves Thirsk, Malton and Filey constituency; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Grayling: Since May 2010, the Department's ministerial team has visited numerous constituencies and jobcentres across the UK.
	The Department's ministerial team currently have no plans to visit the Thirsk Malton and Filey constituency, however, should any Ministers do so, they will look to visit the jobcentre there.

Lone Parents: Earnings

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what consideration he has given to the merits of introducing an increased earnings disregard for lone parents prior to implementation of other aspects of his universal credit proposals.

Chris Grayling: The increased earnings disregards are an intrinsic part of the new universal credit and designed, alongside a single taper, to improve the incentives to enter work.
	Until the universal credit is introduced lone parents will greatly benefit from the comprehensive, personalised support provided by Jobcentre Plus and the new Work programme which will provide a flexible, personalised approach to helping people back into work, and will aim to continue supporting people after they have entered work.

Pensions: Females

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the number of women in Newport East constituency who will be affected by the change in timetable for the equalisation of the state pension age.

Steve Webb: This information is not available.
	On the basis of the mid-2009 ONS population estimates, we estimate that around 1,500 women in the Newport local authority area could be affected by the change in the equalisation of the state pension age.

Poverty: Families

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had with service users to inform the development of universal credit proposals; and to what extent those proposals take into account the needs of low-income families.

Chris Grayling: The Department is committed to involving customers at every stage of the design and delivery of universal credit. We have an ongoing programme of customer insight work and have already held a number of focus groups with a broad range of benefit and tax credit customers (who will be the service users of universal credit), including low-income families.
	The ongoing programme of user-centred design activity, which is being conducted jointly with customers, means that the Department will continue to ensure that the delivery of universal credit is designed around specific customer needs.
	The research findings have not been published, as the analysis is not yet complete. They are also covered by the policy advice exemption from publication.

Social Fund: City of Chester

Stephen Mosley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Social Fund  (a) budgeting loans,  (b) crisis loans and  (c) community care grants for the purpose of buying television sets over the value of (i) £500 and (ii) £1,000 there were in (A) City of Chester constituency and (B) the UK in each of the last five years.

Steve Webb: Firstly, part of the question refers to figures for the whole of the UK-information regarding the discretionary social fund for Northern Ireland is a matter for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, my right hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson).
	In the case of budgeting loans, applicants are asked to tick which of seven categories they need help for, but are not asked to specify the items they require. Television sets would come under the category 'to buy furniture or household equipment'. Data are not available on the number of awards for each category.
	The number of crisis loans or community care grants initially awarded for the purpose of buying television sets over the value of (i) £500 or (ii) £1,000 in (A) City of Chester constituency or (B) Great Britain in each of the financial years 2005-06 to 2009-10 was extremely low, being recorded as nil or negligible.
	 Notes:
	1. The information provided is management information. Our preference is to answer all parliamentary questions using Official/National Statistics but in this case we only have management information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official/National statistics and there are some issues with the data, for example, the information given does not include applications which were processed clerically and had not been entered on to the social fund computer system by the end of the relevant financial year.
	2. Data are available for initial awards only. No information is available on the number of awards of the type described which were made after review.
	3. Exact numbers have not been given for data protection reasons. 'Nil or negligible' means less than five.
	 Source:
	Department for Work and Pensions Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System.

Social Security Benefits: Expenditure

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on each type of welfare and benefits payment to people with an income of  (a) £6,475 to £7,475,  (b) £7,476 to £8,475,  (c) £8,476 to £9,475 and  (d) £9,476 to £10,000 on each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Miller: Information is not available for all welfare and benefits by income level. The following table shows the available data on expenditure on benefits in payment to people in households with gross unequivalised annual incomes within the bands requested. Estimates are derived from the Family Resources Survey and are based on a three year average to help take account of small sample sizes in certain income bands and statistical variation across the years. Use of survey data means that information is only available for the benefits shown.
	
		
			  Table 1: Benefit expenditure (in millions) by unequivalised annual gross income band, United Kingdom, 2004-05 to 2006-07 
			  Benefit  £6,476 to £7,475  £7,476 to £8,475  £8,476 to £9,475  £9,476 to £10,000  Total (three year average) 
			 Disability living allowance 100 150 200 150 9,361 
			 Child benefit 50 50 100 50 9,840 
			 State retirement pension 1,800 2,050 2,650 1,650 55,730 
			 Pension credit 300 300 500 300 6,975 
			 Attendance allowance 50 50 100 100 4,253 
			 Incapacity benefit 250 300 300 100 7,205 
			 Income support 250 350 450 300 10,165 
			 Winter fuel payments 100 100 100 50 2,159 
			 Council tax benefit 250 250 300 200 4,081 
			 Housing benefit 600 800 1,200 750 15,179 
			 Jobseekers allowance 100 100 50 50 2,453 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Benefit expenditure (in millions) by unequivalised annual gross income band, United Kingdom, 2005-06 to 2007-08 
			  Benefit  £6,476 to £7,475  £7,476 to £8,475  £8,476 to £9,475  £9,476 to £10,000  Total (three year average) 
			 Disability living allowance 100 150 200 100 9,745 
			 Child benefit 50 50 50 50 10,176 
			 State retirement pension 1,550 1,950 2,350 1,550 57,363 
			 Pension credit 350 250 400 300 7,317 
			 Attendance allowance 50 50 100 50 4,413 
			 Incapacity benefit 250 300 250 100 7,015 
			 Income support 250 300 350 300 9,509 
			 Winter fuel payments 100 100 100 50 2,141 
			 Council tax benefit 250 250 250 200 4,142 
			 Housing benefit 550 700 1,000 750 15,689 
			 Jobseekers allowance 100 100 50 50 2,455 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Benefit expenditure (in millions) by unequivalised annual gross income band, United Kingdom, 2006-07 to 2008-09 
			  Benefit  £6,476 to £7,475  £7,476 to £8,475  £8,476 to £9,475  £9,476 to £10,000  Total (three year average) 
			 Disability living allowance 50 150 200 100 10,114 
			 Child benefit 50 50 50 50 10,674 
			 State retirement pension 1,300 1,850 2,050 1,300 59,168 
			 Pension credit 250 300 350 250 7,574 
			 Attendance allowance 50 50 100 50 4,563 
			 Incapacity benefit 200 250 200 150 6,787 
			 Income support 200 300 300 200 9,063 
			 Winter fuel payments 50 100 100 50 2,320 
			 Council tax benefit 200 250 250 150 4,179 
			 Housing benefit 550 650 850 600 16,319 
			 Jobseekers allowance 100 100 50 50 2,574 
			  Notes: 1. Estimates are derived from the Family Resources Survey and are based on a three year average to help take account of small sample sizes in certain income bands and statistical variation across the years. 2. All amounts are in 2008-09 prices. Information covers Great Britain only. 3. Shares of benefit expenditure by income band according to the Family Resources Survey have been applied to administrative data to derive a split by income band. Administrative data totals are available to the nearest million pounds, while information based on survey data is presented rounded to the nearest £50 million. 4. The income measures used to derive the estimates shown employ the same methodology as the Department for Work and Pensions publication 'Households Below Average Income' series. Note, however, that unlike most incomes used in the 'Households Below Average Income' publication, incomes here are gross and unequivalised. 5. The Family Resources Survey is known to undercount receipt of certain benefits. This methodology assumes that this undercount is spread proportionally across income bands. For example, if 30% of expenditure is in a certain income band, this assumes 30% of any undercount is also in that income band. This assumption may not be justified here given the relationship between overall income and reporting of benefit income. 6. Unequivalised gross incomes have been rounded to the nearest pound sterling in order to assign all incomes to bands. 
		
	
	The relatively small proportion of benefit expenditure directed at the low income bands specified is mainly due to three reasons; firstly, there is a low proportion of the population overall with gross unequivalised annual incomes less than £10,000; secondly, a major factor causing very low incomes is non take-up of benefits and tax credits; and thirdly, evidence suggests that the Family Resources Survey has an undercount in terms of recording benefit receipt compared to administrative totals.

Work Capability Assessment: Carmarthen

Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of claimants of employment and support allowance in Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire constituency have been found capable of work as a result of a work capability assessment since May 2005;
	(2)  what proportion of residents of Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire constituency who appealed against work capability assessments were successful since May 2005;
	(3)  how many appeals against the outcomes of work capability assessments were made in Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire constituency in each of the last five years; and how many such appeals were successful.

Chris Grayling: Since the above questions all relate to the work capability assessment (WCA) for employment and support allowance (ESA) in the same geographical areas, a single response addressing all the questions is given as follows.
	ESA was introduced in October 2008. Information on WCAs held, their outcomes and subsequent appeals is not available at the constituency level. Figures have therefore been provided for the Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire local authority (LA) areas, which cover the Carmarthen West and Pembrokeshire constituency.
	The number of fit for work decisions given at initial WCA in Carmarthenshire LA between October 2008 and February 2010, the latest data available, is 1,540 or 42% of all new ESA claims received. In Pembrokeshire LA there were 680 fit for work decisions, representing 36% of all new ESA claims received in the same period.
	Of claims received between October 2008 and August 2009 in Carmarthenshire, that were found fit for work at initial WCA, 430 have appealed the WCA decision and had their appeal heard by July 2010. Of these appeals 160 or 38% found in favour of the appellant. For Pembrokeshire, there have been 140 appeals, of which 20 or 15% found in favour of the appellant.
	The above data are taken from benefit claims data held by the Department for Work and Pensions, functional assessment data sourced from Atos Healthcare and appeals data sourced from the Tribunals Service.
	All case load figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 and percentages to the nearest percentage point.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Burundi: Politics and Government

Pauline Latham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent steps his Department has taken to support post-conflict reconstruction in Burundi, with particular reference to providing livelihoods for returning reintegrated refugees.

Alistair Burt: The UK has provided strong political and programmatic support to post-conflict reconstruction and the return of refugees in Burundi since the end of the civil war in 2003.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has worked closely with the international community to support Burundi in its return to stability. Through regular discussions in the UN Security Council, in particular around the regular renewal of the mandate of the UN mission in Burundi, and through active participation in the Peace Building Commission, the UK has promoted the protection of the human rights of vulnerable citizens, including returnees, and emphasised the importance of instituting an effective transitional justice mechanism. Our offices in Burundi and our ambassador based in Kigali have also encouraged the Government of Burundi to take the steps that we believe are essential in enabling Burundi to complete its post-conflict recovery. The Anglican Archbishop of Burundi recently praised the support of the British Government for their engagement.

Departmental Flags

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what guidance his Department issues on flying the EU flag from  (a) embassies,  (b) high commissions and  (c) other Government buildings overseas.

David Lidington: The British flag has precedence. In all cases where it is deployed, the European flag is displayed alongside, not instead of, the British Diplomatic, Consular or (in Commonwealth countries) Union flag. Our Representation to the EU in Brussels displays the European flag at all times, as do all our EU partners on their buildings.
	On Europe day (9 May), posts in EU and EU-applicant countries display the European flag. Other posts may also display the European flag on Europe day where this is normal local practice.

Departmental Flags

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the provisions of any EU treaty govern the flying of EU flags from Government buildings overseas; and if he will make a statement.

David Lidington: There is no specific legal base in either the treaty on European Union or the treaty on the functioning of the European Union which governs the flying of an EU flag from Government buildings overseas. The UK's representation to the EU in Brussels displays the European flag at all times, as do all our EU partners on their buildings. On Europe day (9 May), posts in EU and EU-applicant countries display the European flag. Other posts may also display the European flag on Europe day where this is normal local practice. In all cases, the European flag is displayed alongside, not instead of, the British Diplomatic, Consular or (in Commonwealth countries) Union flag, with the British flag having precedence.

Egypt: Elections

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of each unclassified item of briefing given to Ministers on the outcome of the 2010 parliamentary elections in Egypt.

William Hague: Ministers received no briefing at unclassified level following the outcome of the 2010 parliamentary elections in Egypt.
	During parliamentary elections in Egypt in November and December, domestic observers, civil society organisations and election participants raised serious concerns about arrangements in the run-up to and during the elections. These included refusal of access for international monitors, lack of access in many instances for independent national monitors and candidate representatives to key parts of the voting and counting process and reports of attempts to limit media comment on the elections. In a number of cases, reported voting irregularities and the harassment and arrest of opposition candidates and their supporters amounted to serious interference in the electoral process. This called into question the credibility of some of the results. The majority of the opposition parties and candidates refused to participate in the second round of elections, citing these issues. We strongly encouraged the Egyptian authorities to address those concerns. After the elections the UK and EU highlighted in public and in private irregularities in the electoral process including the absence of independent monitors and limits to press freedom.
	The Government worked to support free and fair parliamentary elections in 2010. We called on the Egyptian Government to amend legislation to ensure full compatibility with Egypt's international obligations in this regard and to permit international observers to visit Egypt during the election periods.
	The EU also supported a coalition of Egyptian civil society organisations to monitor the presidential and parliamentary elections. These non-governmental organisations are also working to raise Egyptian voter awareness towards their political rights, train observers to be able effectively to monitor the elections, and to improve media coverage of the electoral campaigns along internationally recognised professional and ethical standards. Our embassy is also supporting a number of smaller projects with Egyptian civil society to assist their capacity building for the electoral process.

Egypt: Politics and Government

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contact his Department has had with representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt; and if he will make a statement.

William Hague: As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has made clear, we continue to press the Egyptian Government to give opposition groups a real role in the reform process, through a genuinely broad-based dialogue. The Egyptian Government has begun that Dialogue and as part of it, has met the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt who are an important part of Egypt's national political mosaic.
	Our embassy in Cairo maintains working level contacts with many government and opposition figures, including the Muslim Brotherhood. We have been in contact with members of the Muslim Brotherhood in their positions as elected representatives in the Egyptian parliament. We will continue to have contacts with those members of the Muslim Brotherhood who are, or who are likely to be, part of the political dialogue process in Egypt and who have agreed to respect and work within that process.

Embassies: Official Hospitality

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what expenditure was incurred for hospitality for the British embassy or high commission in  (a) Albania,  (b) Macedonia,  (c) Serbia,  (d) Mozambique and  (e) Angola in the financial year 2009-10; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: In the financial year 2009-10 our British embassies and high commissions in the countries listed as follows incurred the following expenditure for hospitality:
	
		
			   £  Percentage of post expenditure 
			 Albania 4,199 0.8 
			 Macedonia 15,458 1.7 
			 Serbia 43,278 1.2 
			 Mozambique 11,002 1.1 
			 Angola 22,827 1.6 
		
	
	This expenditure was spent on a wide range of activities designed to establish and cultivate contacts and included meetings and events hosted for political and business delegations (including those in support of UK Trade and Industry) abroad, to promote and defend wider British interests. All expenditure on official hospitality is incurred in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity, Propriety and Value for Money.

European Union Bill

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many meetings Ministers in his Department have had with hon. Members on the European Union Bill.

William Hague: Ministers have met or otherwise engaged with a number of hon. Members from all political parties, on a range of issues relating to the EU Bill both prior to introduction and during Parliament's consideration of the Bill. This is consistent with the normal course of business, and as the Bill proceeds through Parliament, Ministers will continue to engage with hon. Members in this way.

North Africa and Middle East: British Nationals Abroad

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to facilitate the safety of UK nationals in  (a) Tunisia,  (b) Egypt,  (c) Jordan and  (d) Yemen.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) produces travel advice for all countries which is kept under constant review. This includes information for British nationals on travel safety and avoiding problem situations. FCO travel advice is available on the FCO website as well as the FCO British Abroad Facebook and Twitter sites. The FCO has a strong relationship with around 400 travel industry partners as part of the ongoing Know Before You Go campaign to help British nationals stay safe and healthy abroad.
	During the recent crisis in Tunisia, in response to the deteriorating situation, the FCO changed the travel advice on 13 January 2011 to advise against all but essential travel to Tunisia. The FCO worked closely with travel industry partners to enable British nationals wanting to leave the country in line with our travel advice to do so safely. The advice against all but essential travel to Tunisia was removed on 4 February 2011, in line with an improving security situation on the ground. In response to the unrest in Egypt, the FCO advises against all but essential travel to Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and Luxor. In addition, the FCO organised two government-funded charter flights for British nationals wanting to leave Cairo, on 3 and 5 February 2011. The FCO sent additional staff to both Tunisia and Egypt to reinforce our embassies on the ground. We continue to monitor the situation in Jordan and Yemen. There are currently no travel restrictions in place in Jordan. We currently advise against all but essential travel to Yemen, and against all travel to the Governorate of Sa'ada.

Sudan: Referendums

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance he has provided to Sudan following the recent referendum in that country.

Alistair Burt: We are committed to providing long term support to the people of north and south Sudan. We are providing significant humanitarian and development funding this year to improve governance, address insecurity and provide basic services. The Government are currently conducting a review of all our bilateral and multilateral aid, including our humanitarian emergency response.

Trade Promotion

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many times the then Foreign Secretary led trade delegations to  (a) Brazil,  (b) Russia,  (c) India and  (d) China between May 2005 and May 2010.

Alistair Burt: The then Foreign Secretary, the right hon. Member for Derby South (Margaret Beckett), visited China in May 2007 accompanied by a trade delegation.
	There were no Foreign Secretary-led trade delegations to Brazil, Russia or India between May 2005 and May 2010.

Tunisia: Politics and Government

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he first received reports of unrest in Tunisia.

William Hague: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister responsible for North Africa and I receive regular reports from both our embassies in the region and officials here in London. In the case of Tunisia, our embassy in Tunis reported in December 2010 on the political developments that formed the backdrop to the unrest and thereafter provided regular updates as the unrest escalated.

PRIME MINISTER

Children's Centres

Chris Ruane: To ask the Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the role of Sure Start centres in developing the big society.

David Cameron: The Government have ensured that there is enough money in the system to maintain the network of Sure Start children's centres.
	The Government are working with local authorities to enable voluntary and community sector organisations with a track record of supporting families to become more involved with running and delivering services within children's centres.
	The Localism Bill is introducing a right for local organisations and local authority employees to challenge local authorities to contract out services. Where services are contracted out, community groups, including parents and other local people, can apply to run children's centres, or services within centres, themselves.

General Practitioners

John Healey: To ask the Prime Minister what the attendance list was for the 10 Downing street event for GP pathfinders held on 26 January 2011; and with which organisations each attendee is affiliated.

David Cameron: Information on official and charity receptions held at 10 Downing street is published by means of an annual list as soon as it is ready at the end of the financial year.

TREASURY

Departmental Temporary Employment

Kate Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the  (a) total salary cost and  (b) average salary is of staff employed on fixed-term contracts in his Department.

Justine Greening: There are currently 76 staff employed on fixed-term contracts in the Treasury. The total of the basic salaries of those staff is £2,684,506, an average of £35,322 per fixed-term employee.

EU Law

Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many EU directives are pending transposition into domestic legislation by his Department; and what estimate he has made of the cost of each such transposition.

Mark Hoban: The EU Directives pending transposition into domestic legislation as of 14 January 2011 on which HM Treasury officials were engaged are set out in the following table. Estimates made by this Department of the gross transitional cost to the UK of their transposition (i.e. including costs likely to be incurred by private industry) are shown. No separate estimates of HM Treasury's administrative costs have been made.
	These estimates do not take account of any benefits that might accrue to the UK.
	
		
			  Title of legislation  Estimated costs 
			 Electronic Money Directive 2009/110/EC Estimated cost to the UK of implementation is £1 million. 
			 Capital Requirements 2010/76/EU Transposition has been partially completed; the estimated cost to the UK of implementation of the remaining parts is nil/marginal. 
			 Directive 2010/78/EU amending Directives 98/26/EC, 2002/87/EC, 2003/6/EC, 2003/41/EC, 2003/71/EC, 2004/39/EC, 2004/109/EC, 2005/60/EC, 2006/48/EC, 2006/49/EC and 2009/65/EC in respect of the powers of the European Supervisory Authority (European Banking Authority), the European Supervisory Authority (European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority) and the European Supervisory Authority (European Securities and Markets Authority) The estimated cost to the UK is nil/marginal (the only anticipated costs will be HM Treasury and Financial Services Authority staff costs). 
			 European Directive 2010/73/EU (amendments to EU Prospectus Directive) At pre-consultation stage: no estimate has yet been made of the total cost of implementation of the Amending Directive. 
			 Directive 2009/65/EC Recast Undertakings for Collective Investments in Transferable Securities (UCITS IV) Directive 2009 £50 million 
			 Directive 2009/128/EC on the taking-up and pursuit of the business of insurance and reinsurance (Solvency II) Implementing measures are not yet agreed and so no estimate is currently available.

Excise Duties: Fuels

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has assessed the merits of allowing county and metropolitan councils to collect and retain fuel duty locally; and if he will make a statement.

Justine Greening: Fuel duty is collected directly from fuel producers and therefore does not distinguish between different fuel consumers or geographic areas. The Chancellor keeps all taxes under review.

James Murdoch

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what meetings in an official capacity  (a) he  (b) Ministers and  (c) officials in his Department have had with (i) Rupert Murdoch, (ii) James Murdoch, (iii) Rebekah Wade, (iv) individuals representing News International, (v) individuals representing News Corporation and (vi) individuals representing BSkyB since 4 November 2010.

Justine Greening: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide range of organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and implementation.
	The Treasury publishes a list of ministerial meetings with external organisations, available at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/minister_hospitality.htm

Public Bodies: Accountancy

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance his Department issues to  (a) Ofcom and  (b) other arm's length bodies on ensuring that their accounting practices are in line with those required of (i) Government departments and (ii) the National Audit Office.

Danny Alexander: holding answer 14 February 2011
	Ofcom is a public corporation. The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport issue an Accounts Direction (to date administered by BIS, but which now passes to DCMS) that determines the accounting practice to be followed. As a Public Corporation, Ofcom accounts under the Companies Act and follows International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in line with the Government sector.
	Arm's length bodies such as NDPBs, executive agencies and trading funds (along with Government Departments) follow the Government Financial Manual (FReM). Accounts Directions for NDPBs are issued by their Secretary of State in line with their legislation, normally with the agreement of the Treasury. HM Treasury issues the Accounts Directions for Departments and agencies (under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000) and trading funds (under The Government Trading Funds Act 1973).
	The NAO carry out their audits based on the requirements of the Accounts Directions.

Revenue and Customs: Debt Collection

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2011,  Official Report, column 578W, on tax collection: debts, for what reason HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has published in the  Official Journal of the European Community an invitation to tender for debt collection services which stipulates that during the lifetime of the agreement clients may wish to expand on core services and use supplementary services to ensure that debt recovery is maximised; and if he will assess the implications of this notice for HMRC policy on referring cases to private sector debt collection agencies for door-to-door visits.

David Gauke: The advertisement to which the hon. Member refers relates to a procurement being conducted under the EU Open procedure in respect of a cross government framework contract and was published in the OJEU on 28 January 2011. This can be viewed at:
	http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NQTICE:30619-2011:TEXT:EN:HTML&src=0
	As the advertisement makes clear the intention is to procure, through a single framework contract, a comprehensive range of debt collection agency services that would then be available to HMRC, other Government Departments and public bodies to draw upon should the need arise.
	The current procurement exercise does not alter the position with regard to door-to-door visits by HMRC staff that I set out in my answer of 17 January 2011,  Official Report, column 578W.

Taxation: Aviation

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information his Department holds for benchmarking purposes on aviation taxation regimes in  (a) EU member states and  (b) G20 countries; and if he will make a statement.

Justine Greening: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (Dr Poulter) on 22 November 2010,  Official Report, column 83W.

Taxation: Financial Services

Michael Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the likely yield to the Exchequer of a tax on financial trades  (a) internationally and  (b) within the UK alone for clearing house automated payments system transactions at a rate of (i) 1 per cent., (ii) 0.1 per cent., (iii) 0.01 per cent. and (iv) 0.001 per cent.

Mark Hoban: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 September 2010,  Official Report, column 1254W, to the hon. Member for West Suffolk (Matthew Hancock).

VAT: Alcoholic Drinks

Karen Lumley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether EU member states may operate differential value added tax rates on the sale of alcohol through the on trade and the off trade.

David Gauke: Under the principal VAT directive, member states are only permitted to apply one standard rate of value added tax which must not be less than 15%.
	Member states may also apply two reduced rates of value added tax, but they are not permitted to apply a reduced rate to alcoholic beverages.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Departmental Carbon Emissions

Philip Davies: To ask the Leader of the House how much his Department spent on carbon offsetting in each of the last three years; and to which companies payments for carbon offsetting were made in each such year.

George Young: The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
	I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given today by the Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change, my hon. Friend the Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker).

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Fair Trade

Julie Hilling: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to promote fair trade in developing countries.

Stephen O'Brien: The Department for International Development is committed to the relief of poverty, and one of the most cost effective means is to promote open markets through a fair and strong multilateral trading system. DFID's support to fair and ethical trade aims to double the number of Fairtrade-certified producers to 2.2 million and improve working conditions in global supply chains.

Poverty Reduction

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to ensure that development aid contributes to poverty reduction in the developing world.

Alan Duncan: DFID is highly regarded as a world leader in international development. Our focus on poverty reduction is designed to make a serious impact on attaining the Millennium Development Goals. The Bilateral and Multilateral Aid Reviews focus rigorously on securing value for money and transparency in all that we do.

Poverty Relief Targets

Linda Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to assist African nations in meeting world poverty relief targets by 2015.

Stephen O'Brien: DFID is helping African nations to achieve the 2015 poverty relief targets through results-driven cost-effective investments to create wealth, strengthen governance and security, save and improve the lives of women and girls, and tackle climate change. We are committed to working transparently, and maximising value for money and impact.

Africa: Young People

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation of children and young people in  (a) Sudan,  (b) Uganda,  (c) the Democratic Republic of Congo and  (d) the Central African Republic; and what steps he is taking to support such children and young people.

Andrew Mitchell: In Sudan one in 10 children die before the age of five, net enrolment in primary education is around 54% and Southern Sudan alone has over one million children out of school. In Uganda, children and young people have lost opportunities for education as a result of two decades of conflict, and now risk being unable to access the services they need because of a very high rate of population growth. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) one in five children die before their fifth birthday and more than four million children are out of school. The Central African Republic (CAR) has been affected by civil war for a number of years. The UN estimates that 838,000 children need humanitarian assistance and one in 10 children suffers from acute malnutrition.
	Investing in children and young people is of critical importance for a country's future development. DFID is currently reviewing its aid programme to ensure UK aid represents value for money for the UK taxpayer, while bringing real benefits to the world's poor and accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. The conclusions of the Bilateral Aid Review (BAR), Multilateral Aid Reviews (MAR) as well as the Humanitarian and Emergency Response Review (HERR) will determine our response to the challenges faced by children and young people in these countries. Conclusion of the BAR and MAR will be announced in the coming weeks, while the HERR will report by the end of March.

Burundi: Reconstruction

Pauline Latham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent steps his Department has taken to support the post-conflict reconstruction process in Burundi; and what support he has provided for returning reintegrated refugees in that country.

Stephen O'Brien: In the last four years, the Department for International Development (DFID) has provided £5.8 million for post-conflict reconstruction and support for returning refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Burundi. UK support has enabled the refurbishment and construction of 143 schools and the repair of more than 13,000 pieces of school equipment. This has benefitted 35,000 students, of whom over 4,000 are returning refugees, and 850 teachers. 170,000 returning refugees have been successfully reintegrated and one million IDPs were provided with better access to basic health care and rural and urban water facilities.
	With less than 50,000 refugees now remaining outside Burundi, DFID's focus has moved from providing humanitarian and post-conflict reconstruction support, to increasing the Government of Burundi's ability to deliver better health and education services.
	DFID's future support to Burundi and the East Africa Community, of which Burundi is a member, will be announced upon the conclusion of the bilateral aid review in the coming weeks.

Cotonou Agreement

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to ensure that development assistance provided by the European Union under the Cotonou Agreement is linked to good governance within the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States countries.

Stephen O'Brien: The Cotonou agreement, which governs relations between the EU and the 79 African, Caribbean and the Pacific countries (ACP), is based on 'good governance' and the fundamental principles of democracy, rule of law and human rights. The violation of any of these principles can lead to a suspension of aid.
	The agreement has recently been revised and sets out a clearer process for evoking the final imposition of article 96 measures, which apply when fundamental principles are breached. The UK continues to work with other member states and the European Commission to look at how to strengthen the implementation of the relevant articles.
	The European Development Fund (EDF) has a governance incentive mechanism built into its aid programmes to ACP countries, through which it provides additional funding for commitments to deliver governance reforms.

Departmental Carbon Emissions

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent on carbon offsetting in each of the last three years; and to which companies payments for carbon offsetting were made in each such year.

Alan Duncan: The Department for International Development (DFID) spent the following sums on carbon offsetting in each of the last three years:
	2007-08: £179,818
	2008-09: £219,243
	2009-10: £303,140.
	During 2007-08 and 2008-09, the Government Carbon Offsetting Scheme was administered by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the sums were therefore transferred directly to them. In 2009-10 the payment was made to EDF Trading Ltd.

CABINET OFFICE

Childbirth: Enfield

Nick de Bois: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many births there were at  (a) Chase Farm Hospital, Enfield,  (b) North Middlesex Hospital, Enfield and (c) Barnet Hospital in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated February 2011:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many births there were at (a) Chase Farm Hospital, Enfield, (b) North Middlesex Hospital, Enfield and (c) Barnet Hospital in each of the last five years.
	Figures for live births by hospital have been compiled from birth registration data. Information on place of birth is provided by the informant at registration rather than by the hospitals themselves.
	
		
			  Live births occurring in selected hospitals, 2005 to 2009 
			  Communal establishment  2005  2006  2007  2008  2009 
			 Chase Farm Hospital, Enfield 2,864 3,004 3,039 3,124 3,134 
			 North Middlesex Hospital, Enfield 3,333 3,330 3,489 3,466 3,240 
			 Barnet General Hospital 2,718 3,298 3,241 3,163 3,235

Government Departments: Pay

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether his Department provides guidance to departments on data collection on the pay of sub-contracted staff.

Francis Maude: The Government do not require Departments to collect data on the pay of sub-contracted staff, so no guidance has been issued.
	All companies, including those acting as contractors or sub-contractors to Government, are required to comply with national minimum wage legislation.

Job Creation

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many and what proportion of jobs created in 2010 were ( a) full-time and  (b) part-time.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated February 2011:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking for the number of part-time and full-time jobs created in 2010 (40630).
	The requested information is not available. However estimates for the number of people in full-time and part-time employment are available from the Labour Force Survey. In the three months to November 2010 the number of people in full-time employment was 21,159,000, down 43,000 on the year. In the three months to November 2010 the number of people in part-time employment was 7,930,000, up 227,000 on the year. These estimates are seasonally adjusted.

Televisions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what data his Department holds on the average number of televisions in households in  (a) 1981,  (b) 1990,  (c) 2000 and  (d) 2010.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated February 2011:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what data is held on the average number of televisions in households in (a) 1981, (b) 1990, (c) 2000 and (d) 2010. (41285)
	The table provided shows the average number of televisions per household in the UK, in 2002/03 and 2009, the latest available. Data prior to 2002/03 are not available. These estimates are based on data from the Living Costs and Food Survey (LCF), an annual survey of approximately 5,000 households in the UK.
	These estimates, as with any involving sample surveys, are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	
		
			   Average number of televisions per household, UK 
			 2002/03 2.4 
			 2009 2.4 
			  Source: Living Costs and Food Survey, Office for National Statistics

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Affordable Housing: Barking

Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding his Department plans to provide for the provision of affordable housing in the Barking Riverside development in the Thames Gateway.

Bob Neill: The first four plots developed at Barking Riverside will deliver 358 homes of which 167 will be affordable. The building of these homes is supported by a National Affordable Housing grant of £24 million.
	Further affordable housing within future phases will be developed and supported through the HCA's new Affordable Homes programme the principal product of which is affordable rent.

Audit Commission: Allowances

Matthew Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much each director of the Audit Commission claimed for  (a) hospitality and  (b) other expenses in each of the last two years.

Bob Neill: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to my hon. Friend direct.
	 Letter from Eugene Sullivan, dated 16 February 2011:
	Your Parliamentary Question has been passed to me to reply.
	The amounts claimed by Managing Directors for hospitality and expenses in the last two years are detailed below:
	
		
			  £ 
			   Hospitality  Expenses 
			  2009   
			 Chief Executive Steve Bundred 1,557.60 1,445.47 
			 Managing Director Audit Martin Evans 0 12.00 
			 Managing Director Finance and Corporate Services Eugene Sullivan 21.60 1,362.59 
			 Managing Director PRS Peter Wilkinson 0 533.04 
			 Managing Director Local Government Gareth Davies 0 1,098.01 
			 Managing Director HR Tracey Dennison 78.21 394.19 
			 Managing Director Communications David Walker 1,809.03 404.90 
			 Managing Director Health Andy McKeon 83.25 583.80 
			
			  2010   
			 Chief Executive Steve Bundred to 31 March 2010, Eugene Sullivan from 1 April 2010 0 1,203.30 
			 Managing Director Audit Martin Evans 0 0 
			 Managing Director Finance and Corporate Services Eugene Sullivan to 31 March 2010. Eugene became Chief Executive on 1 April 2010. 0 225.10 
			 Director Finance Sonia Rees was appointed Finance Director, a senior management team post, on 1 April when Eugene Sullivan became Chief Executive. 0 198.21 
			 Managing Director PRS and Local Government Peter Wilkinson. The MD, Local Government role was added to this post in October 2010. 0 0 
			 Managing Director Local Government Gareth Davies. Responsibility for this post was moved to the MD, PRS in October 2010. 0 168.10 
			 Managing Director Audit Practice Gareth Davies. This post was created in October 2010. 0 45.00 
			 Managing Director HR Tracey Dennison 0 46.70 
			 Managing Director Communications David Walker. This post was made redundant from September 2010 and responsibility moved to the MD, Health. 180.65 35.00 
			 Managing Director Health and Communications Andy McKeon. The MD, Communications role was added to this post in October 2010. 0 241.46 
		
	
	Hospitality registers and expenses for the Chairman, Board members, the Chief Executive and Managing Directors are published on the Audit Commission website. These can be viewed here:
	http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/legal/freedomofinformation/publicationscheme/hospitalityandexpenses/pages/default.aspx

Audit Commission: Expenditure

Matthew Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Audit Commission spent on calls to  (a) premium-rate telephone numbers,  (b) directory enquiry services and  (c) the speaking clock in the last 36 months for which figures are available.  [Official Report, 1 March 2011, Vol. 524, c. 1-2MC.]

Bob Neill: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to my hon. Friend direct.
	 Letter from Eugene Sullivan, dated 16 February 2011:
	Your Parliamentary Question has been passed to me to reply.
	The Commission routinely bars premium rate calls for fixed and mobile phones where technically possible. Some premium rate calls are required for targeted business purposes, the main one being for postal franking machines (£162 over the three years). The speaking clock is sometimes used to test lines externally where a guaranteed reply is needed.
	For our main offices, all directory enquiry calls are routed to our main provider Cable & Wireless service as this provides the most effective rate. Mobile phone calls to directory enquiries and the speaking clock are barred.
	The detail of the spending requested is provided in the table below. However, information for home workers and small office users is excluded, as the detail is not readily accessible from the service supplier for the total period.
	
		
			  Main office phone system and mobile phone contracts 
			  £ 
			   12 months to 31 January  
			   2009  2010  2011  Total 
			  (a) Premium rate 55 69 46 170 
			  (b) Directory inquiry services 5 1 1 7 
			  (c) Speaking clock 75 44 21 140 
			 Total 135 114 68 317

Community Centres: Finance

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many community centres have been  (a) refurbished and  (b) built with assistance from funds from his Department in each local authority area in each year since 1997;
	(2)  what sources of funding from his Department community groups and local authorities may access to fund the refurbishment of rebuilding of community centres and parish meeting halls.

Greg Clark: In 2009-10, 15 community groups received funding from the Department's Communitybuilders programme and 24, so far, have received or will receive funding in 2010-11. A list of local authority areas where this funding has or will be made is shown as follows:
	 Local authority areas in which community groups have/are to receive  C ommunitybuilders funding
	 2009-10
	Bradford
	Camden
	City of Bristol
	County of Herefordshire
	Eden
	Exeter
	Hammersmith and Fulham
	Islington
	Liverpool
	Sheffield
	Southwark
	Tameside
	Teignbridge
	Torridge
	Wirral
	 20010 - 11
	Bradford
	Calderdale
	Camden
	Cornwall
	East Lindsey
	East Cambridgeshire
	Harrogate
	Kensington and Chelsea
	Leeds
	Lewes
	Newark and Sherwood
	Newcastle upon Tyne
	North Tyneside
	Northumberland
	Rotherham
	Scarborough
	Grant funding to local authorities is not ringfenced and as a result we do not track what it is spent on. Decisions to target funding on refurbishment of community centres or parish halls are taken at the local level and we do not hold information on this. This could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Community Development

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 25 January 2011,  Official Report, columns 206-7W, on citizen engagement, what  (a) new legislation has been introduced and  (b) bureaucracy has been removed with the aim of building a Big Society.

Greg Clark: The Localism Bill, which was published on 13 December 2010, contains a wide range of measures to devolve more powers to councils and neighbourhoods and give local communities greater control over local decisions like housing and planning.
	The Department is reducing burdens and barriers that make it difficult for local authorities and individuals taking action locally which help to build the Big Society. We have reduced burdens and increased flexibility for local authorities through dismantling the local performance framework and inspection regime, giving greater control over use of their funding and through measures announced in our response to the Sustainable Communities Act. Increasing transparency across Whitehall and local authorities enables citizens to hold service providers to account or open up services to new providers.
	The Department is removing its capital clawback rights from accountable bodies that are either a public body or a body subject to an asset lock from four historic grant programmes (Single Regeneration Budget, Urban Programme, City Challenge and Inner Area Grants). By removing capital clawback rights we are freeing councils and voluntary and community sector organisations to use assets originally funded through these programmes in ways that best meet the needs of their communities.
	We continue to tackle issues drawn to our attention through DCLG's "barrier busting portal", most recently reaching agreement with the Department for Transport that their guidance on "special event" orders-which had been incorrectly presented as necessary for street parties-be withdrawn.

Council Tax Benefits

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the level of expenditure on council tax benefit in each local authority in 2009-10; and how much such expenditure was incurred in respect of  (a) pensioner and  (b) working age households in each authority.

Steve Webb: I have been asked to reply.
	The information has been placed in the Library.

Departmental Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether all new contracts his Department has tendered over £10,000 have been published with associated tender documents on the Contracts Finder website since its inception.

Bob Neill: All new contracts over £10,000, a total of four, will be published in week commencing 14 February 2011.
	The Department has used 'Contracts Finder' to publish tender documentation in respect of three requirements and has a further four live tenders that it will also be publishing in the course of week commencing 14 February 2011.

Housing: Taxation

Matthew Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department has estimated the annual revenue to be raised from implementing a levy of 1 per cent. on the monetary value of all dwellings in England and Wales valued at £2 million or higher.

Bob Neill: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him on 14 February 2011,  Official Report, column 538W.

Landlords: Coventry

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many landlords in Coventry have applied for a selective licence to date.

Andrew Stunell: This information is not held centrally.

Local Government: Conditions of Employment

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he has any plans to revise the best value code of practice on workforce matters in local authority service contacts in relation to the terms and conditions of  (a) transferred workers and  (b) new employees under outsourced contracts within local government.

Bob Neill: The current guidance to local authorities on handling workforce matters in contracting is part of a wider suite of best value guidance. The fitness for purpose of this guidance is under consideration within the Department.

Non-domestic Rates: Devon

Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many residential properties in the South Hams district council area have been transferred from council tax to business rates in the last 10 years.

Bob Neill: A precise count of the number of residential properties that transfer from council tax valuation lists to non domestic rating lists in the South Hams district council area is not held, but the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has used its records to make the estimates shown in the following table, which have been rounded to the nearest 10.
	Nearly all these movements between lists are as a result of seasonal holiday lets being treated as commercial property during the summer and residential property during the winter.
	
		
			  Estimated number of properties inserted in non domestic rating lists that were previously residential properties 
			  As at April to March each year  Number 
			 2000-01 40 
			 2001-02 50 
			 2002-03 70 
			 2003-04 60 
			 2004-05 190 
			 2005-06 100 
			 2006-07 120 
			 2007-08 120 
			 2008-09 120 
			 2009-10 90

North East

Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which Ministers of his Department have visited the North East since their appointment; and what the  (a) date and  (b) purpose was of each such visit.

Bob Neill: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint) on 21 December 2010,  Official Report, column 1308W.
	The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles), and members of his ministerial team will be visiting this area of England in due course as part of a wider programme of visits.

Regeneration: Newcastle upon Tyne

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 10 November 2010,  Official Report, column 355W, on urban regeneration: Newcastle upon Tyne, what recent progress he has made in meetings to deliver a sustainable long-term future for the Byker estate.

Andrew Stunell: My Department and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) have held further meetings with representatives from Newcastle city council, Your Homes Newcastle, and the Byker Steering Group to establish a sound financial model for the estate. Our overriding priority is to ensure a sustainable outcome for Byker which achieves value for money and is affordable to Government. The HCA is currently undertaking a financial and technical assessment of the proposals and will shortly submit a recommendation to the Department.

Social Rented Housing

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the likely effects of the proposed cap on household benefit entitlement on the ability of registered social landlords to ( a) build family-sized accommodation in all regions and  (b) set rents at 80 per cent. of market value.

Grant Shapps: The new affordable rent product will allow social landlords to charge rents at up to 80% of local market rents. When setting rents, it is expected that providers will, where possible, utilise the flexibility to charge rents at 80% of local market rents in order to maximise delivery of new homes, but landlords should take into account a number of factors, including the proposed reforms of the welfare system.
	We will be publishing an impact assessment on the affordable rent model shortly.
	Our affordable rent proposals do not change the rights or rents of existing social tenants. Instead they will help increase the provision of new affordable housing, helping provide below-market rents to a greater number of households who would otherwise not have access to affordable housing.

Social Rented Housing

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what definition his Department uses to determine under-occupancy in the social rented sector.

Andrew Stunell: For the purposes of English Housing Survey a household is considered to be under-occupying if they have two or more bedrooms more than they need as measured by the Bedroom Standard. Details of the Bedroom Standard, including the rules used to calculate the number of bedrooms needed, can be found in the Glossary of the English Housing Survey Household Report 2008-09 which can be downloaded from:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/ehs200809householdreport

Solar Energy: Planning Permission

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many large-scale solar photovoltaic schemes are the subject of a planning application which has not yet been determined.

Bob Neill: Information on undetermined planning applications for large-scale solar photovoltaic schemes will be available from individual local planning authorities but is not collected by this Department. The Renewable Energy Planning Database, accessible via the Department for Energy and Climate Change's website, includes data on solar photovoltaic projects but the statistics do not include all live planning applications because of the time lag in collecting data.

Standards Board for England: Furniture

Matthew Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Standards Board has spent on office chairs in the last 36 months for which figures are available; and what the  (a) make and model and  (b) cost was of each type of chair.

Bob Neill: The Standards Board for England has spent £5,570.54 on office chairs since April 2008, as follows:
	
		
			   Make and model  Quantity  Unit price (£)  Total (£) 
			 14 April 2008 Herman Miller Mirra Task Chair 3 517.33 1,551.99 
			 8 December 2008 Herman Miller Aeron Task Chair 1 733.55 733.55 
			 26 May 2009 Herman Miller Aeron Task Chair 2 657.00 1,314 
			 27 July2009 Herman Miller Aeron Task Chair 3 657.00 1,971 
		
	
	I note that the Localism Bill legislates to abolish the Standards Board.

Supporting People Programme: Liverpool

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will assess the effects of the reduction in the supporting people grant to Liverpool city council on people in Liverpool.

Grant Shapps: holding answer 10 February 2011
	The Department has secured investment of £6.5 billion for the Supporting People programme over the next four years, which equates to an average annual reduction over the four years of less than 1% in cash term.
	By rolling Supporting People funding into the main formula grant, we have given councils the maximum flexibility to meet their local needs in the best way. The formula grant system includes safeguards to ensure that no authority suffers a large reduction in funding. There is therefore no reason why Liverpool city council should need to impose large reductions on its spending for Supporting People services.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Algae: Liverpool Bay

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the level of algal blooms in Liverpool Bay; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: The Centre for the Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) is contracted by the Environment Agency (EA) to help England and Wales comply with the requirements of the water framework directive (WFD). Samples are received on a monthly basis from a number of sites around Liverpool Bay to identify and enumerate the whole phytoplankton community. These results are then fed into various assessment tools which the EA uses to assess the environmental status of all English and Welsh coastal and transitional waters.
	Currently phytoplankton abundance is estimated every 30 minutes by measuring Chlorophyll fluorescence in situ and can be linked to concurrent environmental and nutrient data.
	The data are available on the CEFAS website at:
	http://www.cefas.co.uk/our-science/observing-and-modelling/monitoring-programmes/monitoring-sites/liverpool-bay.aspx

Flood Control: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the level of spending on flood defences in each parliamentary constituency in Wales was in each of the last 10 years; and what estimate she has made of the level of such spending in each such constituency in each of the next five years.

Richard Benyon: Flood defence spending is devolved and in Wales is a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government.

Floods

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many  (a) residential and  (b) industrial properties in each local authority area were flooded by each source in (i) 2005 and (ii) 2009.

Richard Benyon: The following tables give figures recorded by the Environment Agency on the number of residential and industrial properties flooded (recorded by local authority area and by flood source) in 2005 and 2009.
	
		
			  2005 flooding statistics 
			   Number of properties flooded  
			  Local authority  Residential  Business  Source (if known) 
			 Cumbria CC (mainly Carlisle City Council) 3,066 Fluvial/SW 
			 Hampshire/West Sussex 110 37 Unknown 
			 London Borough of Bexley 39 0 Fluvial/SW 
			 Gloucester CC 2 0 Fluvial 
			 Worcester CC 4 0 Fluvial 
			 Stoke City Council 1 0 Fluvial 
			 Conwy/Gwynedd 45 Fluvial/SW 
			 Gwynedd/Anglesey 10 Fluvial/SW 
			 Carmarthenshire 5 3 Fluvial 
			 Pembrokeshire 11 2 Fluvial 
			 Ceredigion 18 4 Fluvial 
			 London Boroughs 5 8 Tidal Thames 
			 Devon 69 43 Fluvial/SW 
			 Somerset 1 0 Fluvial 
			 Torbay 44 14 Fluvial/SW 
			 North Dorset 3 0 Fluvial 
			 Cornwall 56 2 SW 
			 London Boroughs 9 0 Fluvial 
			 Northumberland 200 23 Fluvial 
			 Newcastle 18 0 SW 
			 North Tyneside 5 0 SW 
			 Durham 3 0 Fluvial 
		
	
	
		
			  2009  flooding statistics 
			   Number of properties flooded  
			  Local authority  Residential  Business  Source (if known) 
			 Cumbria CC 1,800 Fluvial/SW 
			 South Lakeland (Cumbria) 12 Fluvial/SW 
			 Hastings BC 36 4 Fluvial 
			 Gloucester CC 5 1 Fluvial 
			 Powys 54 1 Fluvial 
			 Derbyshire Amber Valley District (B) 10 0 Fluvial 
			 Birmingham 1 0 SW 
			 Herefordshire 1 0 Fluvial 
			 Cardiff 10 0 Fluvial 
			 Conwy 3 Fluvial/SW 
			 Anglesey 1 2 Fluvial/SW 
			 Gwynedd 12 Fluvial 
			 Gwynedd 2 GW 
			 Carmarthenshire 9 0 Fluvial 
			 Pembrokeshire 3 1 Fluvial 
			 Bridgend 4 0 Fluvial 
			 Bedfordshire 19 SW 
			 Luton 8 SW 
			 Essex 21 0 SW 
			 South Holland, Lincolnshire 10 0 Fluvial 
			 Devon 20 17 SW 
			 Somerset 26 3 Fluvial/SW 
			 Torbay 4 3 SW 
			 Dorset 12 1 Fluvial 
			 Wiltshire 2 0 Fluvial 
			 Hampshire 1 0 Fluvial 
			 Bournemouth and Poole 8 0 Fluvial 
			 Cornwall 74 0 SW 
			 London Boroughs 203 17 Fluvial/SW 
			 Northumberland 7 1 Fluvial 
			 Durham 9 16 Fluvial 
			 Durham 3 0 SW 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 8 0 Fluvial 
			 Middlesbrough 8 0 Fluvial 
			 SW = Surface Water GW = Groundwater  Notes: 1. Property data collected has not always been broken down as being either residential or business. 2. Most inland flooding incidents are a combination of surface water and fluvial flooding.

Forestry Commission: Land

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on whether owners of former Forestry Commission land disposed of by sale should be entitled to charge fees for use of the land by others.

James Paice: Under the previous Government there were no restrictions placed on the new owners of former Forestry Commission-managed land preventing them charging for use of the land, other than for access on foot where the land had been dedicated for access under the provisions in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act.
	We are committed to protecting the access and public benefits of the Public Forest Estate and the current consultation on the future of the Estate in England sets out and invites views on our proposals to achieve this. No further sales will take place under the rules agreed by the previous administration until the mechanisms are in place to provide extra protections on access and biodiversity.

Forestry Commission: Land

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the  (a) redundancy costs and  (b) costs of transferring staff from the Forestry Commission to alternative owners or managers arising from her proposals for the transfer of Forestry Commission land in England.

James Paice: The outcome of the current consultation on the future of the public forest estate in England will determine the impact for existing Forestry Commission staff. There will need to be detailed consultation with staff representatives about implementation of any agreed proposals before an estimate of cost can be made.

Forestry Commission: Scotland

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2011,  Official Report, column 998W, on Forestry Commission: Scotland, if she will place in the Library copies of the recent correspondence between her Department and the Forestry Minister in Scotland.

James Paice: holding answer 14 February 2011
	We do not place copies of the correspondence in the Library in order to respect the confidentiality of inter-Administration communications.

Forestry Commission: Staff

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people the Forestry Commission employs in  (a) Thirsk and Malton constituency and  (b) England.

James Paice: As of January 2011, the Forestry Commission employs 1,368 people (in both full and part-time positions) across England with 61 staff based in Thirsk and Malton constituency.

Forests

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many expressions of interest in purchasing land in England put up for sale by the Forestry Commission have been received from  (a) private buyers,  (b) community or charitable bodies and  (c) other public bodies since 6 May 2010.

James Paice: holding answer 8 February 2011
	Expressions of interest made direct to the Forestry Commission are not recorded centrally. Land to be sold on the open market by the Forestry Commission is marketed through its professional selling agents who invite potential buyers to register their interest.

Forests

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what average market price of timber from the public forest estate was in each year since 2000.

James Paice: holding answer 8 February 2011
	The following table lists average price per cubic metre overbark (the volume of wood including the bark) standing of timber sold from the public forest estate by financial year since 2000-01.
	
		
			  £ 
			   Direct production( 1)  Standing sales( 2)  Average all sales 
			 2000-01 21.22 10.69 15.11 
			 2001-02 20.21 9.64 13.70 
			 2002-03 19.56 7.88 12.24 
			 2003-04 19.14 6.78 11.07 
			 2004-05 18.52 6.72 11.13 
			 2005-06 19.91 7.80 12.36 
			 2006-07 20.06 9.11 13.59 
			 2007-08 23.71 13.08 17.44 
			 2008-09 23.40 13.66 17.65 
			 2009-10 21.34 11.49 15.34 
			 (1) Direct production is timber harvested by the Forestry Commission and sold at ride side or delivered to customer's premises. (2) Standing sales is timber sold as standing trees and harvested by the customer.

Forests

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what land owned by the Forestry Commission is for sale.

James Paice: The following table shows the Forestry Commission England land that was identified using the 2010-11 sales criteria put in place by the previous Administration and where sales are agreed but not yet completed. No further sales will take place until the mechanisms are in place to provide extra protections on access and biodiversity.
	
		
			  Region  Wood  Area (ha) 
			 York and Humber Wadworth 94 
			 York and Humber Arncliffe 173 
			 York and Humber Thwaite Wood (Old Field Wood) 21 
			 West Midlands Limburies 12 
			 West Midlands Brookshill 30 
			 West Midlands Mansty, Cannock (Pillaton)-with above - 
			 West Midlands Madeley Heath Lot 1 Waltons 30 
			 West Midlands Buxton 8 
			 West Midlands Madeley Heath Lot 2 Old Wharf 13 
			 South West England Bircham 20 
			 South West England Lulworth Woods 255 
			 South West England Ashclyst 2 
			 South West England Hay Wood 53 
			 South West England Pt Grogley 4 
			 South West England Lot 2 Rookery Wood, Coombe Valley Woods 6 
			 South West England Sleech and Pond. Lot 1 Sleech Wood 14 
			 South West England Sleech and Pond. Lot 2 Pond Coppice 2 
			 South West England Lot 1 Stowe Wood Coombe Valley Woods 53 
			 South West England Winsford 23 
			 South West England Beardown 48 
			 South West England Stonaford and North Hill, Trebatha, Bodmin 65 
			 South East England Buscot and Badbury 168 
			 South East England Orlestone (Penfold Wood) 7.29 
			 South East England Alice Holt (Wey Spinney north of railway) 2 
			 South East England Brassets Wood 19.88 
			 South East England Lot 1 Land at Christmas Common (paddock) also known as Field at Queens and College Wood 0.23 
			 South East England Lot 2 Land at Christmas Common (footings of former office) also known as Field at Queens and College Wood 0.19 
			 South East England Market Reading, (Latimer) 3.68 
			 South East England Sulham 98.30 
			 South East England Rewell 281 
			 South East England Houghton 233 
			 South East England New sowed wood (Shardeloes) 2 
			 North West England Bigwood 29 
			 North West England Dalton Park 79 
			 East Midlands Compton Estate-Cold Oak 42 
			 East Midlands Compton Estate-Horn Wood 24 
			 East Midlands Compton Estate-Long Furlong (Easton) 73 
			 East Midlands Wadworth-Wet Holt 6

Forests: Bedfordshire

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the access arrangements are for Dedmansey Wood in South West Bedfordshire constituency.

James Paice: holding answer 11 February 2011
	Dedmansey Wood is leased by the Forestry Commission. The terms of the lease prevent the commission from providing public access to it.

Forests: Devon

Anne-Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many acres of forest land the Forestry Commission owns in  (a) Devon and  (b) Newton Abbot constituency; and where such land is located.

James Paice: holding answer 9 February 2011
	The Forestry Commission public forest estate in Devon extends to approximately 8,987 hectares, of which, 455 hectares is in the Newton Abbott constituency. This is owned by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and placed at the disposal of the Forestry Commissioners under section (3)1 of the Forestry Act 1967.
	The following table lists the woods that comprise the public forest estate in Devon.
	
		
			  Grid reference  Constituency  Wood name  Area (ha) 
			 SS420020 Torridge and West Devon Halwill, Clawmoor, Croftmoor 875 
			 SX871870 Central Devon Haldon2 724 
			 SX655834 Torridge and West Devon Fernworthy 575 
			 SX646771 Torridge and West Devon Believer 540 
			 SX527600 South West Devon Plym Main Block 516 
			 SS291198 Torridge and West Devon Meddon, Summerwell, Wooley 410 
			 SX913810 Newton Abbott Haldon4 350 
			 SS695109 Central Devon Eggesford 311 
			 SS373191 Torridge and West Devon Melbury Hill, Powlers Piece 308 
			 SX431964 Torridge and West Devon Witherdon, Westlake, Upcott 285 
			 SX881839 Central Devon Haldon3 229 
			 SY112918 East Devon East Hill 217 
			 SX938854 Central Devon Sousons 215 
			 SX592972 Central Devon Berrydown, Abbeyford 208 
			 SX925960 Central Devon Wadland, Ashbury, Homing Down 188 
			 SX904787 Central Devon Oldridge 170 
			 SX825825 Central Devon Canonteign 170 
			 SS700337 North Devon Gratton, Sheracombe, Hunstone 165 
			 SX492843 Torridge and West Devon Burley Down, Brentor 151 
			 SS353012 Torridge and West Devon Circuit, Rydon, Merryfieid 140 
			 ST118074 Tiverton and Honiton Sheldon 137 
			 SX820754 Central Devon Great Plantation 137 
			 SS804273 North Devon Molland Estate 129 
			 SX401987 Torridge and West Devon Quoditch 106 
			 SY309948 Tiverton and Honiton Wyld Warr, Trinity Hill, Hole 104 
			 SX472666 Torridge and West Devon Denham 99 
			 SX469960 Torridge and West Devon Northcombe 93 
			 SY185990 Tiverton and Honiton Offwell 84 
			 SX882766 Newton Abbott Haldon5 78 
			 SY211921 Tiverton and Honiton Morganhayes 68 
			 SX900827 Central Devon Haldon5 67 
			 SS645085 Torridge and West Devon Winkleigh 65 
			 SX860956 Central Devon Powderham, Cleave 63 
			 ST122159 Tiverton and Honiton Culm Davey 63 
			 SX820754 Central Devon Haldon1 60 
			 SX664742 Torridge and West Devon Brimpts 58 
			 SY159961 Tiverton and Honiton Offwell, Farway 56 
			 SX491864 Torridge and West Devon Lydford 54 
			 ST003186 Tiverton and Honiton Huntsham 48 
			 SY221969 Tiverton and Honiton Parehayne 47 
			 SS330007 Torridge and West Devon Leworthy 47 
			 SY112918 East Devon Straightway 46 
			 SX925961 Exeter Stoke Wood2 44 
			 SS636149 Torridge and West Devon Bithefin 43 
			 SS644214 North Devon Shortbridge 42 
			 SX468715 Torridge and West Devon Birch Wood 39 
			 SS649419 North Devon Wistlandpound 37 
			 SX677795 Central Devon Stoke Wood1 35 
			 SS404046 Torridge and West Devon Ltl Moor, Mdl Rolls, Westcott 30 
			 SS547197 Torridge and West Devon Dodscott, Moreton, Deers Hill 30 
			 SX528666 Torridge and West Devon Olderwood 28 
			 SS396061 Torridge and West Devon Cookbury 28 
			 SX943815 Newton Abbott Black Forest 27 
			 SS410054 Torridge and West Devon Bramble Wood 25 
			 SY059950 East Devon Straighway Head 21 
			 SX519963 East Devon Buckley 20 
			 SX476827 Torridge and West Devon Langstone Wood 13 
			 ST189081 Tiverton and Honiton South Cleve 10 
			 SS404039 Torridge and West Devon Dunsland 9 
			 SY331950 Tiverton and Honiton Whitty Hill 9 
			 SX473828 Torridge and West Devon Asheltor Wood 9 
			 SX477831 Torridge and West Devon Coles Wood 9 
			 SX559598 South West Devon Hooksbury 9 
			 SY331959 Tiverton and Honiton Forches 8 
			 SX565604 South West Devon Browns Wood 7

Forests: Ministerial Statements

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many  (a) oral and  (b) written ministerial statements have been made by Ministers in her Department on (i) the Forestry Commission and (ii) UK Forestry in each year since 2001; and what title her Department assigned to each statement.

James Paice: holding answer 14 February 2011
	All oral and written statements made by DEFRA are recorded in the  Official Report. Separate records outside the current session of Parliament are not kept in the Department and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	To date, in the 2010-11 Session, there has been one written ministerial statement, 'Public Forest Estate', on 27 January 2011, Official Report, columns 16-18WS.

Forests: Public Finance

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the net cost to the public purse of the sale of  (a) forestry woodland and  (b) commercial woodland in her proposals for the future of the public forest estate; and if she will make a statement.

James Paice: We are currently consulting on the proposals for the future of the public forest estate in England. No decisions will be made until after the conclusion of the consultation.
	The Impact Assessment includes initial estimates of the set cost of any sales to be comparable with those that have taken place to date, which is approximately 5% of the gross sale value.

Forests: Timber

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the percentage change in the volume of wood supplied to the market from the public forest estate in  (a) England and  (b) the UK there was in each year since 1999.

James Paice: holding answer 15 February 2011
	The following table gives the percentage change in wood production each year from 1999 to 2009. Figures for 2010 are not yet available.
	
		
			  Calendar year  England (green tonnes)  Percentage change from the previous year  Percentage change from 1999 baseline  UK( 1)  (green tonnes)  Percentage change from the previous year  Percentage change from 1999 baseline 
			 1999 1,379,000   4,853,000   
			 2000 1,270,000 -8 -8 4,980,000 +3 +3 
			 2001 1,205,000 -5 -13 4,749,000 -5 -2 
			 2002 1,211,000 +1 -12 4,768,000 0 -2 
			 2003 1,214,000 0 -12 4,934,000 +4 +2 
			 2004 1,308,000 +8 -5 5,007,000 +2 +3 
			 2005 1,255,000 -4 -9 4,680,000 -6 -4 
			 2006 1,194,000 -5 -13 4,627,000 -1 -5 
			 2007 1,248,000 +5 -9 4,693,000 +1 -3 
			 2008 1,140,000 -9 -17 4,458,000 -5 -8 
			 2009 1,291,000 +13 -6 5,213,000 +17 +7 
			 (1) UK includes Forestry Commission managed woodland (England, Scotland and Wales) and the Forest Service in Northern Ireland.  Note: Percentages are given to the nearest whole number.

Irish Sea: Pollution

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment her Department has made since 2007 of the effect of polychlorinated biphenyls on the marine environment in the Irish Sea;
	(2)  which  (a) statutory and  (b) non-statutory bodies have monitored pollution levels in the Irish Sea in each year since 2007;
	(3)  what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of monitoring pollution levels in the Irish Sea in each year since 2007.

Richard Benyon: The Irish sea is bounded by England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic and these regions all have their own arrangements for monitoring and reporting on pollution in the Irish sea.
	A number of UK statutory bodies have co-operated since 2007 to ensure that the monitoring of pollution in UK marine waters in the Irish sea is appropriately funded and carried out. The bodies involved are:
	in England and Wales: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Department for Transport, Department of Energy and Climate Change, Welsh Assembly Government, Environment Agency and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency;
	in Scotland: Scottish Executive, Marine Scotland (formerly Fisheries Research Services), Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, and;
	in Northern Ireland: Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Environment Agency and the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute.
	Small amounts of monitoring may also be done by the Loughs Agency which is a cross border body partly supported by Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
	A number of non-statutory bodies also measure pollution levels in the Irish sea, including marine institutes, universities, industries and non-governmental organisations.
	The monitoring carried out by these bodies is brought together and co-ordinated through the UK Marine Monitoring and Assessment Strategy (UKMMAS), which has the goal of ensuring the cost-effective provision of the information needed for policy and management decisions to deliver the UK marine vision of clean, healthy, productive and biologically diverse seas. UKMMAS has recently published Charting Progress 2, an assessment of the state of UK seas, which also includes assessments of the status of the Irish sea available at:
	http://chartingprogress.defra.gov.uk
	The UK Government co-operate with the Irish Government in the framework of the OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the North East Atlantic through participation in its Joint Assessment and Monitoring Programme. Regular joint assessments of the status of the various regions of the North East Atlantic are made. OSPAR has recently published its Quality Status Report 2010, which includes assessments of the state of pollution across the North-East Atlantic, including in the Irish sea.
	The monitoring of pollution in the Irish sea is funded by a number of government bodies in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Funds are generally allocated on a national basis and support monitoring across all the seas within each administration's jurisdiction. It is not therefore possible to distinguish the specific amount of money allocated to monitoring pollution levels in the Irish sea.
	Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) are monitored in the Irish sea under the Clean Seas Environmental Monitoring Programme. Levels are assessed in sediments and biota (shellfish and fish liver).
	PCB results were incorporated in the Clean and Safe Seas chapter of Charting Progress 2 which was delivered in 2010. Results were also included in the Quality Status Report 2010 prepared by the OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the marine environment of the North East Atlantic.
	These reports concluded, that despite these substances having been banned, exceedances of the environmental quality standards for PCBs at some sites are still being observed within the Irish sea.

Irish Sea: Pollution

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will estimate the mass of fertiliser washed into the Irish sea in each of the last 10 years.

Richard Benyon: The monitoring of pollution in the Irish sea is carried out by a number of organisations in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
	Various components of fertilizer are monitored, such as: ammonia, nitrate, orthophosphate, and nitrogen but no records are held centrally of the total mass of fertilizer discharged into the Irish sea.

Irish Sea: Pollution

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many pollution incidents of each type there were on each river flowing into the Irish Sea in each of the past 10 years.

Richard Benyon: The following table shows the estimated number of category 1 (major) and 2 (significant) pollution incidents that had an impact to water in a catchment that flowed in to the Irish sea.
	
		
			   N umber  of category 1 and 2 incidents 
			 2001 182 
			 2002 140 
			 2003 127 
			 2004 150 
			 2005 115 
			 2006 112 
			 2007 93 
			 2008 90 
			 2009 105 
			 2010 87 
		
	
	Not all recorded incidents will have reached the Irish sea. Pollutants would have broken down before they entered the sea.
	Not all of the incidents will have had a major or significant impact on the Irish sea. The incident level is recorded on site which can be many miles from the sea.

Land

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the proportion of the net cost of  (a) the proposed transfer to the charitable sector of land in (i) the New Forest and (ii) the Forest of Dean and  (b) the proposed disposal of Kielder Forest which will be met from the public purse.

James Paice: An impact assessment was published alongside the current consultation on the future of the Forestry Commission public forest estate in England. This gives an initial indication of costs for each of the policy options outlined in the consultation, but does not consider them in relation to specific sites.
	No decisions about the future of the sites mentioned will be made until after the conclusion of the consultation.

Land

Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the likely effects on common land of the provisions of the Localism Bill.

Richard Benyon: No formal assessment has been made on the likely effects on common land of the provision of the Localism Bill. Restricted works on registered and certain other common land require the consent of the Secretary of State under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006. The Localism Bill does not affect the requirement for such consent.

Nature Reserves

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the long-term trends in visits to nature reserves.

Richard Benyon: There are a number of different statutory and non-statutory designations of nature reserve. These range from informal designations made by nature conservation bodies, through local wildlife sites and local nature reserves, to the nationally designated National Nature Reserve series. We do not hold information on long-term trends in numbers of visits to these sites.

Plantations

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which Forestry Commission and Forest Enterprise-owned plantations of 50 hectares or more in Yorkshire and the Humber  (a) have been bought since 1981,  (b) have been sold since 1981 and  (c) are scheduled for sale; and what the (i) name, (ii) ordnance survey grid reference, (iii) local authority area, (iv) size, (v) price and (vi) date of purchase or sale was in each case.

James Paice: holding answer 7 February 2011
	The public forest estate is owned by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and placed at the disposal of the Forestry Commissioners under section (3)1 of the Forestry Act 1967. Acquisitions and sales, including areas in the process of being sold, since 1997 are given in the following table.
	
		
			   Grid reference  Local authority  Area (ha)  Net price (£)  Date 
			  Acquisitions since 1997  
			 Wombwell Wood-Community Wood SE379025 Barnsley district 52 0 30 September 2002 
			 Upper Woodhead Farm-Community Wood SE369032 Barnsley district 58 0 1 June 2010 
			   
			  Sales since 1997  
			 Wraby Moors, North Lindsey, Brigg TA031105 North Lincolnshire 70 104,000 22 April 2009 
			 Faceby (Bonny Cliff) NZ509019 North Yorkshire 62 40,000 1 December 2010 
			   
			  Being sold as part of the 2010-11 programme  
			 Arncliffe SE454990 North Yorkshire 173 - Sale agreed 
			 Wadworth SK556972 Doncaster district 94 - Sale agreed

Sewage: Railways

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make an assessment of the legality of authorisations granted for train operating companies discharging sewage onto railway tracks.

Richard Benyon: The discharge of sewage onto railway tracks is lawfully provided via an exemption from the need for an environmental permit. This is set out in Chapter 4 of Schedule 3 to the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010. The discharge is exempt providing the operator: meets the rules of the exemption; registers the exemption with the Environment Agency; and carries out the operation without endangering human health or risking harm to the environment.
	The Government carries out regular reviews of exemptions from environmental permitting to ensure the controls are proportionate to the risk posed.

Squirrels

Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Forestry Commission spent on controlling the size of the squirrel population on its estate between 2008 and 2010.

James Paice: The Forestry Commission in England spent approximately £102,000 during 2008-09 and £127,000 during 2009-10 on activities associated with the control of grey squirrel populations on the public forest estate.

Wareham Forest

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has for the future of Wareham Forest; and what steps she plans to take to maintain current public rights of access, rights to recreational activity and levels of biodiversity.

James Paice: holding answer 8 February 2011
	The main block of Wareham Forest has been indicatively categorised as 'heritage' on the map that accompanies the consultation on the future of the Public Forest Estate in England. We are committed to protecting the public benefits that are currently provided by the Public Forest Estate, including public access and biodiversity. The consultation sets out and invites views on the proposals for protecting these benefits.

Wood: Licensing

Nicola Blackwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much timber was removed under felling licences from  (a) Oxford West and Abingdon constituency and  (b) Oxfordshire in each year since 2007.

James Paice: The Forestry Commission records information on felling licences and grant schemes (which may have associated permission to fell trees) by local authority area. Information by constituency could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The following table gives details of the felling licences issued in each district in Oxfordshire for each financial year from 2007-08. A licence, which is valid for between two and five years, gives the landowner permission to fell the trees but does not place them under any obligation to do so. The Forestry Commission does not record timber volume removals as a result of the licences it issues or felling permission given in association with woodland grant scheme agreements.
	
		
			   Clear felling  Cutting coppice  Other felling( 1)  Thinning  Total 
			   Area (ha)  Volume (m( 3) )  Area (ha)  Volume (m( 3) )  Area (ha)  Volume (m( 3) )  Area (ha)  Volume (m( 3) )  Area (ha)  Volume (m( 3) ) 
			  2007-08   
			 Cherwell District 1.2 977 - 2 - 15 4.9 191 6.1 1,185 
			 Oxford District 0.1 16 - - - - - 5 0.1 21 
			 South Oxfordshire 1 178 - - - 7 105.7 3,586 106.7 3,771 
			 Vale of White Horse 2.1 660 - - 0.6 88 104.8 2,909 107.5 3,657 
			 West Oxfordshire 4.6 546 0.6 114 0.5 80 9.1 381 14.8 1,121 
			
			  2008-09   
			 Cherwell District - 10 - 5 1 99 61.2 2,038 62.3 2,152 
			 Oxford District - - - 5 - - 5.1 30 5.1 35 
			 South Oxfordshire 0.5 10 - - 0.4 17 299.6 14,038 300.5 14,065 
			 Vale of White Horse 1.9 1,080 2 100 19.1 11,587 10.6 1,647 33.6 14,414 
			 West Oxfordshire 5.3 801 0.1 10 13 759 151.1 3,257 169.5 4,827 
			
			  2009-10   
			 Cherwell District 4.1 1,184 0.1 5 1.5 146 37.6 1,825 43.3 3,160 
			 Oxford District - - - - - 10 - - - 10 
			 South Oxfordshire 3.3 241 0.8 156 7.6 540 72.5 2,183 84.2 3,120 
			 Vale of White Horse 1.7 40 - - 0.7 41 11 235 13.4 316 
			 West Oxfordshire 2.7 1,327 4.8 150 5.1 1,131 371 11,354 383.6 13,962 
			 (1) Other felling includes selective felling, hedgerow trees and single isolated trees not forming part of a woodland.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Biofuels

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment he has made of the  (a) prospects for,  (b) funding requirements for and  (c) potential contribution of large-scale biomass developments to his Department's energy strategy.

Charles Hendry: DECC's renewable energy planning database (REPD) at:
	https://restats.decc.gov.uk/cms/welcome-to-the-restats-web-site
	contains detailed information on biomass plant under construction, in planning, and consented in the UK. There are no large scale (>50 MW) dedicated biomass plants currently operational in the UK, however, a 50 MW combined heat and power biomass plant is under construction at Markinch, Fife. Four projects for large-scale plant have received planning consent (805 MW total capacity) and six large-scale projects (1.2 GW total capacity) are currently under planning consideration.
	Modelling to inform delivery of the renewable energy directive target suggested that up to around 10 TWh of renewable generation in 2020 might come from dedicated biomass generation, or biomass CHP (based on an estimate of around 1.3 GW by 2020). This estimate is not based on specific size of plant. The renewables obligation (RO) is currently the Government's main mechanism for incentivising large scale renewable deployment. The cost of renewables obligation support for this level of biomass generation is estimated to be in the region of £0.5 to £1 billion in 2020 (2010-11 prices).
	We are currently reviewing the level of support for all renewables technologies, and will consult on any changes to RO bands this summer. As part of that process, we have asked our consultants Arup to provide updated assumptions on potential deployment and costs for each renewable electricity technology.

Chemicals: Teesside

Ian Swales: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will meet representatives of the chemical industry from Teesside to discuss UK energy policy.

Charles Hendry: holding answer 15 February 2011
	The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and all the ministerial team at DECC value the importance of the UK chemicals industry to the UK economy and helping to deliver a low carbon economy. DECC Ministers and officials are already engaged with representatives from the chemicals industry to discuss the impact of DECC policies on their sector. Last September I met with representatives from the Chemical Industries Association to discuss UK energy and climate change policies.

Departmental Carbon Emissions

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department spent on carbon offsetting in each of the last three years; and to which companies payments for carbon offsetting were made in each such year.

Gregory Barker: Figures for the amount spent on carbon offsets purchased through the Government Carbon Offsetting Facility by Central Government Departments are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  £ 
			   Financial year 
			  Department  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10( 1) 
			 Cabinet Office (including No. 10 Downing street) 43,129 44,595 0 
			 Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) (2)58,578 (3)51,532 0 
			 Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) 3,965 2,208 0 
			 Department for Communities and Local Government 2,338 2,657 0 
			 Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) 3,469 3,469 0 
			 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) (4)50,481 (5)50,541 0 
			 Department for International Development (DFID) 179,818 219,243 0 
			 Department for Transport (DFT) 12,756 13,111 0 
			 Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) 27,641 27,365 0 
			 Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) n/a n/a (6)11,670 
			 Department of Health 9,099 9,117 0 
			 Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) 263,595 0 742,066 
			 Government Equalities Office (GEO) 0 0 0 
			 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) 55,429 69,098 0 
			 HM Treasury 8,808 11,892 0 
			 Home Office 30,369 29,120 0 
			 Law Officer's Department (LOD) 5,839 8,925 0 
			 Northern Ireland Office (NIO) 6,339 6,448 0 
			 Ministry of Defence (MOD) 167,215 240,881 0 
			 Ministry of Justice (MOJ) (including Department for Constitutional Affairs) 14,825 14,956 0 
			 
			 Payments made to: Trading Emissions plc Trading Emissions plc Essent Trading Inter- national SA 
			 (1) Some Departments may have purchased offsets in 2010-11 to account for emissions which took place in 2009-10 and therefore have a zero entry for 2009-10. (2) Includes Energy section of DECC from 3 October 2008. (3) Includes Energy section of DECC from 3 October 2008. (4) Includes Climate Change section of DECC from 3 October 2008. (5) Includes Climate Change section of DECC from 3 October 2008. (6) Includes Act On CO2 Campaign.

Green Climate Fund

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to his oral statement of 13 December 2010,  Official Report, columns 698-99W, on the Cancun Climate Change Conference, what the membership of the board of the green climate fund is; when he expects the fund to become operational; and how the fund will be capitalised.

Gregory Barker: The operational details of the green climate fund, including its board membership and financing structure, will be considered by a Transitional Committee. This committee has been tasked with designing the fund and making its recommendations to COP 17 later this year. Terms of reference for the committee were annexed to the Cancun agreement. The timing of the fund becoming operational will depend on decisions taken at COP 17.

Radioactive Waste

Dan Byles: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the average quantity of radioactive materials released into the atmosphere from each  (a) coal-fired and  (b) nuclear power station in each of the last five years.

Charles Hendry: Assessments published by the National Radiological Protection Board, now a division of the Health Protection Agency (HPA) in 2001 confirmed that the radioactivity in coal and its waste products is below the threshold value for regulation as a radioactive substance. This remains the most recent and authoritative report in respect of these discharges. It is available on the HPA website at:
	http://www.hpa.org.uk/Publications/Radiation/NPRBArchive/MiscellaneousNRPBReports/Abstracts1996To2001/2001nrpbR327/
	Principal atmospheric discharges for 2006 to 2009 from operating nuclear power stations, and those undergoing decommissioning, are provided in the following table. The data are as reported to the Environment Agency and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and published in the annual publication, 'Radioactivity in Food and the Environment (RIFE)'. Copies of RIFE are available in the Libraries of the House and on the Food Standards Agency website at:
	http://www.food.gov.uk/science/surveillance/radiosurv/rife/
	Data for 2010 are not yet available.
	
		
			  TBq 
			  Site name/radioactivity  2006  2007  2008  2009 
			  Berkeley 
			 Beta 4.04E-07 2.53E-07 2.73E-07 5.10E-07 
			 Tritium 0.00386 0.00421 0.00469 3.39E-03 
			 Carbon-14 1.66E-04 2.50E-04 2.82E-04 2.24E-04 
			  
			  Bradwell 
			 Beta 9.76E-06 4.13E-06 1.91E-07 2.08E-07 
			 Tritium 0.00843 0.0226 0.00691 9.87E-03 
			 Carbon-14 5.63E-04 0.00111 0.00116 6.24E-04 
			  
			  Chapelcross 
			 Tritium 121 85.1 68.4 95.1 
			 Sulphur-35 4.20E-05 2.7E-05 3.9E-05 Nil 
			 Argon-41 Nil Nil Nil Nil 
			  
			  Dungeness A 
			 Beta(1) 1.97E-04 6.41E-05 5.21E-05 3.91E-05 
			 Tritium 0.181 0.219 0.0347 0.0238 
			 Carbon-14 1.93 0.243 0.00111 0.0301 
			 Sulphur-35 0.047 0.00165 2.58E-04 9.87E-04 
			 Argon-41 1280 Nil Nil Nil 
			  
			  Dungeness B 
			 Beta(1,2) 5.54E-06 1.34E-06 - - 
			 Tritium 2.99 4.46 8.1 9.06 
			 Carbon-14 0.601 0.797 0.73 0.634 
			 Sulphur-35 0.0201 0.0366 0.0509 0.0957 
			 Argon-41 13.6 20.9 12.8 24.4 
			 Cobalt-60(1,3) - 3.67E-07 3.14E-07 6.82E-07 
			 Iodine-131 2.19E-06 1.03E-05 1.52E-05 1.68E-05 
			  
			  Hartlepool 
			 Beta(1,2) 4.32E-06 9.42E-07 - - 
			 Tritium 1.26 0.843 0.114 0.704 
			 Carbon-14 1.47 1.66 0.0152 1.17 
			 Sulphur-35 0.0198 0.0187 0.0025 0.019 
			 Argon-41 4.52 6.83 0.00104 6.12 
			 Cobalt-60(1,3) - 1.95E-06 4.0E-06 1.19E-05 
			 Iodine-131 2.29E-05 4.76E-05 8.9E-05 1.69E-04 
			  
			  Heysham 1 
			 Beta(1) 8.57E-06 1.91E-06 - - 
			 Tritium 1.04 1.18 0.47 0.785 
			 Carbon-14 1.72 1.48 0.033 1.3 
			 Sulphur-35 0.0241 0.021 0.014 0.0194 
			 Argon-41 8.55 8.01 Nil 0.314 
			 Cobalt-60(1,3) - 4.42E-06 5.9E-06 5.55E-06 
			 Iodine-131 1.10E-04 8.99E-05 8.0E-05 7.96E-05 
			  
			  Heysham 2 
			 Beta(1) 1.18E-05 2.76E-06 - - 
			 Tritium 0.994 1.17 1.2 0.85 
			 Carbon-14 1.27 1.52 1.7 1.4 
			 Sulphur-35 0.0149 0.01 0.013 0.0108 
			 Argon-41 11.8 8.84 6.6 17.8 
			 Cobalt-60(1,3) - 6.94E-06 7.3E-06 1.35E-05 
			 Iodine-131 5.39E-05 3.82E-05 5.8E-05 9.36E-05 
			  
			  Hinkley Point A 
			 Beta 8.39E-07 4.37E-07 4.99E-07 3.67E-07 
			 Tritium 0.121 0.103 0.113 6.62E-02 
			 Carbon-14 6.87E-04 7.12E-04 7.31E-04 7.25E-04 
			  
			  Hinkley Point B 
			 Beta(1) 2.48E-05 6.24E-06 - - 
			 Tritium 6.52 0.902 1.48 2.55 
			 Carbon-14 1.32 0.472 1.11 0.908 
			 Sulphur-35 0.180 0.0670 0.12 0.106 
			 Argon-41 8.04 3.76 8.85 12.1 
			 Cobalt-60(1,3) - 5.23E-06 8.03E-06 7.55E-06 
			 Iodine-131 4.06E-06 5.91E-06 7.03E-06 6.33E-06 
			  
			  Hunterston A 
			 Beta(1) 2.83E-07 3.8E-07 4.26E-07 4.40E-07 
			 Tritium 0.00197 0.00161 0.0013 0.00113 
			 Carbon-14 1.84E-04 1.81E-04 1.28E-04 1.17E-04 
			  
			  Hunterston B 
			 Beta(1) 3.40E-05 4.47E-05 7.08E-05 1.14E-04 
			 Tritium 1.66 1.60 2.78 3.31 
			 Carbon-14 1.68 0.540 1.31 1.32 
			 Sulphur-35 0.0222 0.0182 0.0436 0.0684 
			 Argon-41 20.6 5.9 12.4 12.7 
			 Iodine-131(4) - 8.13E-05 4.0E-04 1.30E-04 
			  
			  Oldbury 
			 Beta 1.39E-05 1.56E-05 2.94E-05 4.42E-05 
			 Tritium 1.72 1.31 1.59 2.05 
			 Carbon-14 0.887 0.325 0.93 1.44 
			 Sulphur-35 0.0412 0.0133 0.0546 0.0821 
			 Argon-41 19.6 5.2 19.3 29.1 
			  
			  Sizewell A 
			 Beta 2.23E-04 3.80E-06 E-06 1.90E-06 
			 Tritium 1.42 1.18 0.659 0.214 
			 Carbon-14 1.49 0.11 0.0464 0.0131 
			 Sulphur-35 0.143 0.015 0.00202 0.001 
			 Argon-41 2130 Nil Nil Nil 
			  
			  Sizewell B 
			 Noble gases 3.05 - 2.87 3.92 
			 Halogens 5.33E-04 3.75E-06 - - 
			 Beta(1) 4.52E-05 5.00E-06 7.0E-06 5.00E-06 
			 Tritium 1.23 1.18 0.598 0.714 
			 Carbon-14 0.169 0.295 0.333 0.297 
			 Iodine-131(3) - 1.90E-05 3.6E-05 2.11E-04 
			  
			  Torness 
			 Beta(1) 4.22E-06 3.34E-06 3.41E-06 5.57E-06 
			 Tritium 1.91 2.62 1.60 1.44 
			 Carbon-14 0.688 0.880 0.841 1.07 
			 Sulphur-35 0.0136 0.00873 0.00595 0.0097 
			 Argon-41 3.76 5.45 4.27 4.90 
			 Iodine-131 - 2.21E-06 2.08E-06 2.83E-06 
			  
			  Trawsfynydd 
			 Beta 2.69E-07 3.94E-07 5.0E-07 6.85E-07 
			 Tritium 0.11 0.12 0.0959 0.0727 
			 Carbon-14 0.00296 0.00274 0.00213 0.00227 
			  
			  Wylfa 
			 Beta 3.69E-05 4.84E-05 3.39E-05 4.22E-05 
			 Tritium 2.65 2.78 2.63 2.86 
			 Carbon-14 1.28 1 1.49 1.42 
			 Sulphur-35 0.161 0.13 0.154 0.172 
			 Argon 41 14.8 14.4 22 17.9 
			 TBq = Terabecquerel-the international system unit of activity of a radionuclide. (1) Particulate activity (2) Not reported after 31 March 2007 (3) Not reported prior to 1 April 2007 (4) Not reported prior to1 June 2007  Note: Beta particles are high-energy, high-speed electrons or positrons emitted by certain types of radioactive nuclei. The beta particles emitted are a form of ionizing radiation also known as beta rays.  Source: Radioactivity in Food and the Environment, 2006-09 
			 TBq = Terabecquerel-the international system unit of activity of a radionuclide. (1) Particulate activity (2) Not reported after 31 March 2007 (3) Not reported prior to 1 April 2007 (4) Not reported prior to1 June 2007  Note: Beta particles are high-energy, high-speed electrons or positrons emitted by certain types of radioactive nuclei. The beta particles emitted are a form of ionizing radiation also known as beta rays.  Source: Radioactivity in Food and the Environment, 2006-09

Solar Power: Feed-in Tariffs

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what minimum efficiency standards his Department has set for solar photovoltaic projects to qualify for subsidy.

Gregory Barker: FITs rewards generators in proportion to the amount of electricity generated so there is a strong economic incentive to use efficient equipment and to site the installation optimally.
	A requirement of feed-in tariffs (FITs) is that installations under 50 kW, including solar photovoltaics, must use installers and products accredited under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), or equivalent, to be eligible for FITs. MCS gives assurances about likely quality, durability and performance of installations. Solar photovoltaic installations of more than 50 kW are accredited by Ofgem under a process similar to the renewables obligation.

Solar Power: Feed-in Tariffs

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether feed-in tariffs for solar photovoltaic energy vary by latitude.

Gregory Barker: No. Under the feed-in tariffs scheme, tariff levels were set through consideration of the technology costs and electricity generation expectations at different scales. The tariffs were set to deliver an approximate rate of return of 5-8% for well sited installations.

Solar Power: Feed-in Tariffs

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what information his Department holds on the variation in  (a) efficiency of and  (b) payback periods for investment in solar photovoltaic energy by latitude within the UK.

Gregory Barker: Under the feed-in tariff (FITs) scheme, tariff levels were set through consideration of the technology cost and electricity generation expectations at different scales. The tariffs were set to deliver an approximate rate of return 5-8% for well-sited installations.
	Reference installation was based on 850kWhr/kWp per year for well-orientated UK PV installations-see 'Quantitative Analysis of the Design of the Feed-in Tariffs' at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/elec_financial/elec_financial.aspx

HEALTH

Blood: Donors

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the  (a) number,  (b) number per 1,000 head of population and  (c) proportion of people who gave blood in each age decile for each of the last five years;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of blood donors per 1,000 head of population in each ethnic group in each of the last five years;
	(3)  how many blood donors there were in each year for which figures are available;
	(4)  how many blood donors of each  (a) age group,  (b) sex,  (c) socio-economic group and  (d) blood type there are in each region.

Anne Milton: The information has been placed in the Library.

Children: Television

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the potential effects of television viewing on the (i) metabolic rates and (ii) long-term health of children.

Simon Burns: The Department has not commissioned research specifically on the potential effects of television viewing on the metabolic rates and long-term health of children.
	In 2009, the Department set up an expert group to review existing evidence on the impact of sedentary behaviour, including screen time on overweight and obesity, and the impact on health and activity levels. The group has drawn up draft recommendations on sedentary activities for all ages. These will be included in updated Chief Medical Officer guidelines on physical activity, expected in spring 2011.

Cockermouth Community Hospital

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the rebuilding of Cockermouth Community Health Hospital; and on what date he expects construction to begin.

Simon Burns: The Department supports the national health service in realising the potential of community services and recognises the health and wider benefits community hospitals can bring to the local population. However, the re-development of the Cockermouth community hospital is a matter for the local NHS in Cumbria. Cumbria primary care trust can advise on the current position of the development.

Dentistry: Qualifications

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to equalise the position of British and foreign citizens seeking to obtain access to discretionary recognition of qualifications for dental care professions; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: We sympathise with dental care professionals whose qualifications have not been approved by the General Dental Council (GDC), but any extension of the limited powers the GDC has for discretionary recognition of qualifications would have significant resource implications for the council. It would be preferable if these dental care professionals had the opportunity to undergo additional training to meet the standards set by the GDC.

Departmental Carbon Emissions

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on carbon offsetting in each of the last three years; and to which companies payments for carbon offsetting were made in each such year.

Simon Burns: The Department offsets the carbon emissions resulting from our business air travel by contributing to the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund (GCOF). The GCOF aims to fulfil the Government's commitment to offset emissions attributable to all official and ministerial air travel in central Government. It is available to all central Government Departments and provides a simple and cost-effective way to offset, as well as ensuring high environmental integrity.
	For the last three years, the Department paid:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2007-08 9,099 
			 2008-09 9,117 
			 2009-10 £0 
		
	
	Payments were made to Trading Emissions plc.

Food: Additives

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess the merits of providing routine screening for food intolerances to children from an early age.

Anne Milton: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the national health service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy and supports implementation. Using research evidence, pilot programmes and economic evaluation, it assesses the evidence for programmes against a set of internationally recognised criteria.
	The UK NSC regularly reviews policy on screening for different conditions in the light of new research evidence becoming available. Where stakeholders of the UK NSC feel that there is enough evidence published in peer reviewed journals to consider screening for a condition they can submit a policy proposal to the UK NSC. Further information is available on the UK NSC's website at:
	http://www.screening.nhs.uk/policyreview

Food: Hygiene

Margot James: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many local authorities have launched the Food Standards Agency national food hygiene rating scheme recommended in Lord Young's report, Common Sense, Common Safety;
	(2)  what progress has been made by the Food Standards Agency in rolling out a national food hygiene rating scheme across local authorities as recommended in Lord Young's report, Common Sense, Common Safety;
	(3)  whether the Food Standards Agency has launched the web-based database for local authorities to publish results of food hygiene rating scheme inspections recommended in Lord Young's report, Common Sense, Common Safety.

Anne Milton: The online search facility for the national food hygiene rating scheme being introduced by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) went live on 1 October 2010.
	The scheme was launched formally on 30 November 2010 and, to date, 47 local authorities have started to roll it out in their areas and are publishing ratings online. This includes 28 in England, 18 in Wales and one in Northern Ireland. By the end of June, it is anticipated that around 40% of local authorities in England, all local authorities in Wales and around 70% of those in Northern Ireland will be operating the scheme.
	The FSA is encouraging and supporting as many more local authorities as possible to adopt the scheme.

General Practitioners: Equality

John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether GP consortia will be subject to the general duties of the public sector equality duty under the Equality Act 2010.

Simon Burns: The Health and Social Care Bill will amend the Equality Act 2010 to include commissioning consortia. Consortia will therefore be subject to the general duties under the Equality Act 2010.

Genito-urinary Medicine

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that relevant commissioning expertise will be available for the provision of integrated sexual health services by local authorities following implementation of his proposed public health reforms.

Anne Milton: On 21 December 2010, we published "Healthy Lives, Healthy People: Consultation on the funding and commissioning routes for public health", a copy of which has already been placed in the Library.
	The consultation makes proposals about the role of local authorities (LAs) in commissioning comprehensive open-access sexual health services using funds from the ring-fenced public health budget.
	The ring-fenced public health grant will fund LAs to commission the integrated sexual health services they are responsible for. This means that it will fund those functions that are necessary for LAs to deliver their new public health responsibilities, including relevant commissioning expertise. These proposals are currently subject to consultation which closes on 31 March.
	In addition, a new sexual health strategy to be published this year will set the broad future direction and priorities for sexual health.

Health

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure the impartiality of decision-making within local authorities in delivering public health commissioning.

Anne Milton: As set out in the Public Health White Paper "Healthy Lives, healthy People: Our strategy for public health in England", directors of public health are to be employed in upper-tier councils and unitary authorities to lead local public health efforts and will play the leading role in discharging local authorities' public health functions.
	Directors of public health will be a statutory member alongside general practitioner commissioning consortia, local HealthWatch and other key partners on health and well-being boards and as part of the local authority will play a key role in preparing the joint strategic needs assessment which will need to paint an objective picture of the health and social care needs of the local population. The needs assessments will provide the basis for developing a joint health and well-being strategy, outlining how health and social care commissioners can meet the needs identified and should provide the overarching framework for local commissioning plans.
	Local democratic accountability to their local health populations, joint strategic working with other key partners and the focus on health outcomes aims to facilitate an impartial and objective approach to public health commissioning.

Health

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department uses measures of health and well-being that involve self-reporting by individuals.

Anne Milton: Self-reported measures of health and well-being are periodically included in a number of population-based surveys. The findings are used by the Department in developing and monitoring policy.
	The most frequently used measures on health and wellbeing are:
	General health and longstanding illness. These are primarily established by means of two main questions:
	How is your health in general? Would you say it was: very good/good/fair/bad/very bad?
	Do you have any long-standing illness, disability or infirmity? Yes or no?
	Both of these questions have been included each year in both the General Lifestyle Survey (previously known as the General Household Survey) and the Health Survey for England.
	EQ5D. Five questions aim to establish the respondent's general state of health and quality of life. In selected years, this has been included in the Health Survey for England.
	GHQ-12 questions aim to establish whether the respondent has any mental health issues. In selected years, this has been included in the Health Survey for England.
	Warwick and Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Score (WEMWBS). 14 questions aim to assess the respondent's mental and overall wellbeing. This was included for the first time in the 2010 Health Survey for England and will also be included in the 2011 survey.
	A list of the questions included in the final three measures have been placed in the Library.
	The findings of the both the General Lifestyle Survey:
	www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/product.asp?vlnk=5756
	and the Health Survey for England:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/health-and-lifestyles-related-surveys/health-survey-for-england
	are published online and are publicly available.

Health Services: Competition

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will ensure that competition in the health sector is based on the quality of the supplier; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: In the new national health service, competition between providers will be a means, not an end, to empower patients and staff, drive up responsiveness, outcome, improved quality and efficiency.
	Our aim is for services to be commissioned from the best provider(s) whether from the public, private or voluntary sector and for patients to have greater choice and control over their care.

Hospitals: Food

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he plans to take to encourage hospitals to comply with the Government Buying Standards for the public procurement of food and food services.

Anne Milton: "The Operating Framework for the NHS in England 2011-12", published on 15 December 2010, makes it clear that national health service organisations are encouraged to consider the Government Buying Standards for food and catering when they are introduced at the end of March 2011.

Hull and East Riding NHS Stop Smoking Service: Correspondence

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many unsolicited letters the Hull and East Riding NHS Stop Smoking Service has sent; and what the cost to the public purse, including postage, of sending such letters was;
	(2)  whether the Hull and East Riding NHS Stop Smoking Service attempted to ensure that the recent letters it sent were not addressed to non-smokers.

Anne Milton: Priorities are set by local national health service Stop Smoking services for their own local population. This is a matter for the City Health Care Partnership (CHCP), which runs the Hull and East Riding Stop Smoking Service on behalf of Hull Teaching Primary Care Trust (PCT) and East Riding of Yorkshire PCT. I understand that my hon. Friend has already been in contact with the CHCP about this matter.

Meat: Hygiene

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimates he has made of the cost to the livestock industry in Wales of implementation of the Food Standard Agency's proposals for full cost recovery of meat hygiene controls;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effect of the Food Standard Agency's plans for full cost recovery of meat hygiene controls at slaughterhouses on small and medium-sized abattoirs in Wales.

Anne Milton: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has consulted across the United Kingdom on proposals for full cost recovery by removal of current discounts, with options for a phased introduction and a reduction in charges for low throughput businesses, and is committed to reducing its own costs.
	I am advised that on the basis of the information available prior to the consultation, the FSA estimated that full cost recovery for meat controls would cost the Welsh meat industry approximately £2.2 million. In the draft impact assessment, the FSA has assumed that slaughterhouses will absorb approximately one-third of the cost associated with full recovery charging and farmers the remaining two-thirds. On this basis the FSA estimates that slaughterhouses, including low throughput establishments, will absorb approximately £0.73 million of the cost, and pass on £1.47 million to the livestock industry in Wales. The FSA will refine the impact assessment in light of information received in responses to the consultation.
	139 consultation responses have been received across UK, 20 in Wales, including 11 from Welsh slaughterhouses of varying sizes, and FSA is in the process of considering all responses prior to determining its advice to Government.
	 Note:
	The FSA impact assessment has been published on the FSA website at:
	http://food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/consultation/meatcharges1110eng.pdf

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

Ian Swales: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Minister of State's contribution on 4 February 2011,  Official Report, column 327WH, on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, what recent representations his Department has received on the definition of CFS/ME.

Paul Burstow: The Department has received, and continues to receive, a large volume of correspondence from stakeholders, and those living with this condition, on the definition and naming of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME).
	During the Westminster Hall debate, on 4 February 2011, I said that the World Health Organisation uses the composite term CFS/ME for this condition. This was incorrect.
	The World Health Organisation classes benign myalgic encephalomyelitis and post viral fatigue syndrome under the same classification G93.3 'diseases of the nervous system'; subheading 'other disorders of the brain'.
	The report of the CFS/ME Working Group to-the Chief Medical Officer, in January in 2002, suggested that the composite term CFS/ME be used as an umbrella term for this condition, or spectrum of disease. This term is also used by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence for their clinical guidelines.
	We do, however, intend to seek further advice on our classification and will update the hon. Member in due course.

NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to clause 262 of the Health and Social Care Bill, whether the functions of the NHS Institute will be incorporated into the Commissioning Board; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: The Department's "Liberating the NHS: Report of the arm's length bodies review" (published 26 July 2010) looked to reduce bureaucracy and improve efficiency by better aligning the arm's length bodies (ALBs) sector with the rest of the health and social care system. This is available at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_117691
	The review found, in assessing the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement's current form and functions, that it did not satisfy the criteria to remain as an ALB, as set out in the report.
	It was therefore decided to abolish the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement as an ALB. The Department is engaging with the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement to review and evaluate its remaining functions, with a view to determining whether opportunities exist for alternative commercial delivery models, and whether or not to stop providing for certain functions altogether
	The Health and Social Care Bill currently before Parliament provides for the NHS Commissioning Board to have a duty, in exercising its functions, to promote innovation in both the provision of health services and approaches to commissioning them. This will enable the NHS Commissioning Board to promote innovation as part of its role in providing national leadership for quality improvement in the national health service.

NHS Outcomes Framework

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will include indicators on the incidence of fragility fractures in older people in  (a) the NHS Outcomes Framework and  (b) the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework.

Paul Burstow: On 20 December 2010, we published 'The NHS Outcomes Framework 2011/12', which will measure the overall progress of the national health service in delivering better health outcomes for patients.
	In the Framework, 'Domain 3: Helping people to recover from episodes of ill health or following injury', there is an improvement area which focuses on 'improving recovery from fragility fractures'. The indicator 'The proportion of patients recovering to their previous levels of mobility/walking ability at (i) 30 days and (ii) 120 days'.
	This indicator is replicated in the draft Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework to help align the unique contributions that the NHS and adult social care have in delivering outcomes for fragility fractures in older people.
	The draft Framework, on which we consulted from 16 November to 9 February 2011, also includes the indicator 'the number of emergency hospital admissions for people aged 65 and older as a result of falls and injuries', which is also relevant to improving outcomes for fragility fractures.
	As with all measures in the draft Framework, inclusion in the final Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework for 2011/12 is subject to the level of support received via the consultation from councils, people using the services and their carers, providers, user-led organisations and others. We will publish a consultation response this spring setting out what people have said and how we have reflected this in the final Framework; as well as in our broader proposals to bring transparency to social care quality and outcomes.

NHS: Drugs

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Pudsey of 27 January 2011,  Official Report, column 468W, on the NHS: drugs, if he will assess  (a) the effectiveness of the unwanted and wasted medicines campaign run by Brighton and Hove Link and  (b) the potential of such campaigns to reduce (i) the quantity of wasted medicines and (ii) the dangers such drugs pose; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: We take the issue of waste medicines very seriously. Local initiatives such as the one run by Brighton and Hove Local Involvement Network, can play an important part in raising awareness of the issue of waste medicines with local populations and health care professionals.
	The Department commissioned the York Health Economics Consortium and the School of Pharmacy at the University of London to carry out research to determine the scale, causes and cost of waste medicines in England. The report, 'Evaluation of the Scale, Causes and Costs of Waste Medicines', was published by the researchers on 23 November 2010.
	The Department and key interested parties took part in a round table event hosted by the King's Fund on 20 January 2011 to discuss possible actions that could be taken forward either nationally or locally. Local initiatives, such as the one in Brighton, will help to inform our future work programme on reducing waste and improving health outcomes.

NHS: Market Research

Iain Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much each  (a) primary care trust and  (b) strategic health authority spent on market research and opinion polling in 2009-10; and what estimate he has made of such expenditure in 2010-11.

Simon Burns: The information requested is not held centrally.

NHS: Pensions

Stephen Mosley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what reports his Department has received from former NHS employees about administrative errors associated with the processing of their pension in the last five years.

Simon Burns: NHS Pensions, the administrators of the NHS Pension scheme, received enquiries from former national health service employees about the non payment of interest where it was due under the Scheme regulations. An administrative exercise was undertaken to trawl and pay interest to members for all cases where it was due.

NHS: Private Sector

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what consideration he has given to allowing private health providers to take ownership of NHS property under his proposals for NHS reform; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what consideration he has given to the transferral of NHS property to private health providers under his proposals for NHS reform; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: On 6 January 2011, the Department announced that the primary care trust-owned estate that is required to deliver the commissioned services will be made available to first and second wave aspirant community foundation trusts. The Department is currently examining the implications for the management and ownership of the remaining estate following the dissolution of primary care trusts in 2013. An announcement will be made when this has been completed.
	The acute sector estate is owned by foundation and national health service trusts. The White Paper "Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS" proposes that the latter will become foundation trusts by 2013-14. These reforms will not otherwise affect the property holding arrangements in the NHS acute sector.

NHS: Private Sector

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether any limit will be imposed on the amount of private income a Foundation Trust can earn as a proportion of its overall income under his proposals for NHS reform; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: The Government have decided to use the Bill to remove the private patient cap, which is both arbitrary and unfair in its effects: giving extensive freedoms to some trusts and imposing tight constraints on others, based solely on the historical accident of how much private income they earned in 2002-03. The Government are not persuaded that there is a case for imposing a new limit in the Bill on the amount of private income a foundation trust can earn as a proportion of its overall income. The Bill would not change a foundation trust's principal purpose of providing goods and services for the purposes of the national health service in England.

NHS: Private Sector

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will ensure that NHS patients do not wait longer for treatment as result of the removal of the private income cap for Foundation Trusts; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: There is no reason to believe that removing the cap would disadvantage national health service patients. A foundation trust's principal purpose will remain the provision of goods and services for the purposes of the NHS. The Bill proposes reforms that would strengthen a foundation trust's governance arrangements. It would ensure greater transparency and accountability to enable the governors and members to ensure that a foundation trust is managed in the best interests of the public and its NHS patients.

NHS: Reorganisation

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the likely status of the NHS as a protected state service under the relevant European directives under his proposals for NHS reform.

Anne Milton: As we develop the national health service reform proposals we are assessing where European Union law will have an impact and what the position will be with respect to a health system that will remain funded by the taxpayer and providing universal coverage, free at the point of need.

NHS: Reorganisation

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how he will ensure that his Department's proposals for health and social care reform will not create a risk of loss of financial control; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: The maintenance of financial control during transition and the effective design of financial control in the new health landscape will remain a key objective as we implement the health reforms.
	The NHS Operating Framework 2011/12, published on 15 December 2010, outlines the business and planning arrangements for the national health service over the transition year 2011-12. It describes the national priorities, system levers and enablers needed to build strong foundations set out in "Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS", and to maintain and improve quality, while keeping tight financial control and delivering the quality and productivity challenge at a time of significant change.
	The Operating Framework sets out how tight financial control will be maintained during 2011-12. Primary care trusts will continue to be required to invest 2%, of their budgets non-recurrently in order to create financial flexibility and headroom to support change. The marginal rate of tariff payment for emergency admissions above baseline thresholds will be maintained, incentivising commissioners and providers to work together in an area that is critical to delivering local Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention plans. These measures are critical for ensuring that the NHS maintains a strong financial position, to get the new system on the right footing from the outset.

NHS: Standards

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what safeguards he plans to put in place to maintain quality of care in the NHS in the light of cost pressures; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: The Operating Framework for the NHS in England set out the Department's plans for maintaining and improving the quality of care. Specifically, it says (paragraph 4.3, page 31) that
	"as part of this NHS Operating Framework, we have developed a list of key indicators against which PCTs and clusters will be held to account during 2011-12. The list is included as an annex to this NHS Operating Framework and brings together key performance indicators to support quality, innovation, productivity and prevention efficiencies; indicators relating to new commitments and reform; and clinically relevant indicators from existing measures".
	A copy of the Framework has already been placed in the Library and is available on the Department's website at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/@ps/documents/digitalasset/dh_122736.pdf

NHS: Standards

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess the merits of maintaining process targets which have a relationship to health outcomes; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: The White Paper "Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS" set out how the Government would introduce a new system of accountability for the national health service based around the outcomes achieved for patients. As part of this, the first ever NHS Outcomes Framework was published on 20 December 2010. This framework will be used by the Secretary of State to hold the proposed NHS Commissioning Board to account for its role in overseeing the commissioning of NHS services.
	It will be for the NHS Commissioning Board to translate the national outcomes into outcomes and indicators that are meaningful at a local level, and it may choose to include process measures in the tools and levers it will have its disposal. Putting in place the right processes of care is critical to securing improved outcomes. However, these should be determined by expert bodies and healthcare professionals rather than politicians. In line with this, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence have begun building a broad library of quality standards which will set out the processes and structures of care that should be put in place for a particular care pathway in order to achieve high quality outcomes.

Nurses: Pay

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of the public sector pay freeze on the payment of annual increments to NHS nurses who earn less than £21,000 per annum.

Simon Burns: The starting pay for a qualified nurse is £21,176 per annum full time equivalent.
	There is currently no national freeze on incremental progression although there have been discussions between national health service employers and NHS trade unions on a National Enabling Framework to support local agreements to guarantee no compulsory redundancies in return for suspending incremental payments.

Patient Choice Schemes

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will ensure that patient choice will continue to be determined on the basis of clinical need rather than price or competition law under his proposals for NHS reform; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: The decision to refer a patient for national health service treatment is a clinical one and will remain so. Services will be commissioned according to the clinical needs of the population, but in a way which allows service users appropriate choice of treatment and provider.

Patient Choice Schemes

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the implications for patient choice are of lifting the competition exemption for the NHS under EU requirements; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: The use of competition in the national health service is not about establishing normal commercial markets under price competition, and competition is not an end in itself.
	The Government are focusing on using competition to enhance quality and choice in the system, in most instances using NHS tariff or pricing arrangements. For some services, where the delivery of care is essential (e.g. rural ambulance and emergency), competition will be more limited-if it exists at all.
	Our aim is for services to be commissioned from the providers who are best placed to deliver the needs of their patients and populations. Commissioners and providers should also ensure that patients have accurate and reliable information, so that they can exercise more choice and control over their health care.

Patient Choice Schemes

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what mechanism patients will be able to choose any healthcare provider under his proposals for GP commissioning.

Simon Burns: We expect the ability of patients to choose services to be extended through the introduction of any willing provider as part of the implementation of the Government's proposals on choice. The NHS Commissioning Board will have overall responsibility for ensuring that commissioning consortia deliver a choice of provider. Further details of how the choice offer will develop will be given in the response to the choice consultation in the spring.

Postnatal Depression

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of mothers who suffered from a post-natal mental health problem as a proportion of the number of live births in each year since 2000.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated February 2011:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what estimate has been made of the number of mothers who suffered from a post-natal mental health problem as a proportion of the number of live births in each year since 2000. (37850)
	The Office for National Statistics does not hold the information requested.

Prostate Cancer

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  with reference to the report prepared for his Department, One to one support for cancer patients, what steps he is taking to address the gap in the provision of one to one support workers for men with prostate cancer identified in the report;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to implement the national clinical audit of prostate cancer referred to in Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer.

Paul Burstow: 'One to One Support for Cancer Patients' shows that, in many scenarios, the savings that can be achieved through improved co-ordination of care can outweigh the costs of dedicated support roles. These savings include reductions in emergency bed days, reductions in routine follow-up appointments, and reductions in general practitioner visits.
	The findings of the report are intended to assist local decision making and support the continued expansion in one to one support for all cancer patients, including those with prostate cancer. It is for local national health service organisations to decide whether to invest in new one to one support roles, and we have welcomed the recent announcement by Macmillan Cancer Support that they will invest up £300 million to pump prime additional one to one support posts over the next seven to 10 years.
	We will build on 'One to One Support for Cancer Patients' to provide further evidence to support the NHS to develop new one to one support posts. We will highlight issues that service providers and commissioners need to consider as part of work force planning.
	Regarding the implementation of a prostate cancer audit, a process to select topics for an extended national clinical audit and patient outcomes programme will begin shortly. We will consult widely and consider all representations before decisions are taken in the autumn.

Schizophrenia

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the number of diagnosed schizophrenics of each  (a) age group and  (b) sex there were in each region in each of the last 30 years.

Paul Burstow: We do not collect this information centrally. However, the "Adult Psychiatric Morbidity in England, 2007" survey does contain some of the information requested. This publication has already been placed in the Library.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Adult Education

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his review of informal adult learning will include consideration of  (a) the transparency of and  (b) mechanisms for allocating funding for informal adult and community learning.

John Hayes: In November 2010, "Skills for Sustainable Growth" announced that the adult safeguarded learning budget of £210 million per annum for informal adult and community learning would be protected and that informal adult and community learning would be reformed in order to:
	help build the big society, through learning for personal development, mental/physical health, digital inclusion, democratic engagement, family learning etc.
	engage and motivate disadvantaged groups and create progression pathways towards the wider learning continuum, including skills-focused learning and employment.
	Over the coming months BIS will hold a series of policy round table meetings, including one with a specific focus on funding. We will work closely with a wide range of partners, including representative bodies, local authorities, colleges and other learning providers to consider how to address historical funding imbalances and how best to fund informal adult and community learning in future.

Adult Education

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  whether local authority adult community education services will be exempt from the Skills Funding Agency's minimum contract value proposals;
	(2)  whether local authority adult community education services will be exempt from the Skills Funding Agency's minimum contact value arrangements.

John Hayes: We announced in "Investing Skills for Sustainable Growth" in November 2010 that a minimum contract level (MCL) was being introduced for the 2011/12 academic year as part of our commitment to create a streamlined and more efficient FE system. In an environment of declining budgets, it has become increasingly difficult for small providers to operate without realising the efficiencies of shared services or economies of scale through collaboration or subcontracting. The Skills Funding Agency also needs to become more efficient and streamlined.
	The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) published Guidance Note 6(1) (16 December 2010), which gives further detail on the implementation of a minimum contract level (MCL) for the 2011/12 academic year. Guidance Note 6 provides a list of the types of college/training organisation/employer that would be exempt from the application of the MCL due to the specific nature of the contractual relationships that the SFA has with them. Local authorities are not automatically exempt from the introduction of the MCL.
	Where there is a risk of specialist provision being lost, or a significant impact on the choice available in particular localities, for example, in rural communities, the agency will consider whether alternative arrangements should be made.
	(1) Available at:
	http://readingroom.skillsfundingagency.bis.gov.uk/sfa/skills_funding_agency_-_guidance_note_6_final_-v2_.pdf

Adult Education

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether the process of reviewing and reinvigorating informal adult learning will include a review of the funding process for informal adult and community learning.

John Hayes: In November 2010, "Skills for Sustainable Growth" announced that we would protect the Adult Safeguarded Learning budget of £210 million per annum for informal adult and community learning and that we would re-invigorate and reform informal adult and community learning to support the big society and to foster learning and progression for individuals, families and communities. Over the coming months we will work closely with partners to consider how public funding can be refocused and reprioritised for the people who need the most help and have had the fewest opportunities.
	I refer my hon. Friend to his question tabled on 7 February 2011 (39061) which I answered today.

Citizens Advice Bureaux

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on the future of citizens advice bureaux.

Edward Davey: Government value highly the work of the citizens advice service but funding for citizens advice bureaux is not a matter for central Government but for local authorities who are better able to determine the structure and level of funding of advice services in their area which meets local needs. The Government do not, however, expect local authorities to respond to this freedom by passing on disproportionate cuts to other service providers, especially the voluntary sector.
	Due to concerns raised by the hon. Member for Birmingham, Erdington (Jack Dromey) about funding decisions by Birmingham city council and the threat that decision might pose to the sustainability of the local citizens advice bureaux, I addressed those concerns and the Government's response in an adjournment debate in Westminster Hall on 9 February 2011,  Official Report, column 129WH.

Citizens Advice: Finance

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much central Government funding has been allocated to Citizens Advice in each of the last five years.

Edward Davey: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) provides core grant in aid funding to Citizen Advice (CitA), the umbrella body for the Citizen Advice Service in England and Wales, and to Citizen Advice Scotland. Core funding for the individual citizen advice bureaux is typically provided by their local authority, not central Government.
	Over previous years BIS has also provided programme funding to Citizen Advice under the financial inclusion fund (for face to face debt advice project) and to both Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland under the additional hours of advice (AHA) project. BIS also committed in the last spending review (SR07) to provide programme funding to Citizens Advice Scotland to aid in the development and roll-out of a case recording system (CASTLE) to be used across the bureaux network in Scotland.
	
		
			  Citizens  a dvice funding 
			  £ 
			   BIS core funding  Financial inclusion fund  Additional hours project  Total 
			 2009/10 21,470,000 18,579,000 7,500,000 47,549,000.00 
			 2008/09 21,470,000 17,949,000 2,500,000 41,919,000 
			 2007/08 21,470,000 13,071,000 - 34,541,000 
			 2006/07 21,470,000 15,443,000 - 36,913,000 
			 2005/06 23,605,000 - - 23,605,000 
		
	
	
		
			  Citizens  a dvice Scotland 
			   Core grant in aid  CASTLE project  Additional hours/credit crunch project  Total 
			 2009/10 3,124,000 238,000 - 3,362,000 
			 2008/09 3,018,000 371,000 - 3,389,000 
			 2007/08 2,916,000 100,000 - 3,016,000 
			 2006/07 2,916,000 - - 2,916,000 
			 2005/06 3,024,000 - - 3,024,000

Departmental Procurement

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps  (a) his Department,  (b) its agencies and  (c) the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible have taken to comply with the Guidance of the Office of Government Commerce on promoting skills through public procurement issued in 2009.

Edward Davey: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) adheres to applicable guidance published by the Office of Government Commerce.
	This Department utilises Buying Solutions and other frameworks where possible. In such cases the responsibility for incorporating such considerations lies with the body responsible for establishing the framework.
	BIS' facilities management service partners are contractually required to demonstrate active support to staff to improve their adult basic skills. This must include an initial assessment of staff and where found not to meet the criteria the service partner must make available suitable arrangements for appropriate training to assist them in attaining at least the basic level as part of their individual training plans.
	The Government's skills strategy, published on 16 November, set out how BIS will also work with public sector bodies to encourage and support them to use public procurement as a lever to raise employers' engagement with skills and apprenticeships.
	I have asked chief executives of the Executive agencies to respond directly to the hon. Member.
	Further information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	 Letter from Stephen Speed, dated 15 December 2010:
	The Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has asked me to reply to your question what steps (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible have taken to comply with the Guidance of the Office of Government Commerce on promoting skills through public procurement issued in 2009.
	The Insolvency Service Executive Agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills adheres to current guidance by following Office of Government Commerce (OGC) recommendations, liaising with Buying Solutions specialists. It utilises OGC framework agreements where possible and advertises contracts via the Official Journal of the European Union where the whole-life value of the goods and services mandates this route.
	The Insolvency Service is now embedding the Cabinet Office's 'Principles of Good Employment Practice' into its processes. In undertaking procurement activities, our trained procurement staff are mindful of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and are members of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply (CIPS).
	The Insolvency Service recently contacted all our suppliers of goods and services to encourage them to sign up to the Skills Pledge.
	 Letter from Geof Russell, dated 15 December 2010:
	The majority of activity procured by the Skill Funding Agency (the Agency) is for education and vocational training rather than the provision of goods and services. All procurement of this activity will in future be undertaken through the Agency's Approved College and Training Organisation Register (ACTOR). Through this process the Agency ensures that providers that hold Agency contracts are committed to developing the skills of their staff. This includes monitoring those organisations that have Investors in People or the Training Quality Standard (TQS). Through the procurement process the Agency ensures that organisations use skilled staff for the delivery of education and training and commit to the continuous professional development of their staff. Furthermore, all trainers, verifiers and guidance suppliers are required to have formal qualifications, in order to practise.
	In terms of the procurement of goods and service provision the Agency uses collaborative procurement where possible. These are purchased through pan-government frameworks, where the evaluation criteria (and all references to skills requirements, provision of apprenticeship places, and contract terms and conditions) are actually set by other public sector bodies.
	Where the Agency does issue bespoke tenders, the goods and services tendering documentation has been updated to encourage its suppliers to support developing the skills of their staff, and where relevant, the use of Apprenticeships. The need to embed skills and Apprenticeships is considered separately for each procurement and, where relevant, the wording and evaluation criteria are strengthened.
	 Letter from Peter Mason, dated 19 January 2011:
	I am responding in respect of the National Measurement Office (NMO) to your Parliamentary Question tabled 15 December 2010, asking the Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps (b) its Agencies and (c) the non departmental public bodies for which he is responsible have taken to comply with the Guidance of the Office of Government Commerce on promoting skills through public procurement issued in 2009.
	NMO takes OGC Guidance into account when carrying out its procurement activities and in its most recent large procurement exercise, the first since this particular guidance was issued, bidders were explicitly scored on the extent to which they had a formal training plan for the development of their workforce.
	 Letter from Gareth Jones, dated 24 January 2011:
	I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled 13 December 2010, UIN 31316 to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	Companies House's contracts are awarded in accordance with all relevant procurement legislation but, because of the nature of our business requirements, there are very few services for which we contract where promoting apprenticeships are applicable.
	However, we have made full use of apprentice resource as part of our current Building Maintenance Contract.
	 Letter from John Alty, dated 10 February 2011:
	I am responding in respect of the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to your Parliamentary Question tabled 13 December 2010, asking the Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, what steps (b) its agencies and (c) the non departmental public bodies for which he/she is responsible have taken to comply with the Guidance of the Office of Government Commerce on promoting skills through public procurement issued in 2009.
	In line with central government guidance, the IPO use collaborative framework arrangements for goods and services wherever possible, and in these instances the supplier selection (and other evaluation) criteria are decided upon by other public sector organisations when setting up the framework. Where the IPO issue bespoke tender requirements, our documentation will reflect the guidance by promoting skills and apprenticeships where relevant to the requirement. We have also specifically addressed this as part of our overall procurement strategy, along with other corporate social responsibility obligations.

Employment Schemes

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  which colleges he expects to participate in the job outcome pilot scheme in 2011-12
	(2)  whether funding for job outcome pilot schemes will be ring-fenced in the 2011-12 academic year;
	(3)  how many people he expects to participate in the job outcomes pilot scheme in academic year 2011-12;
	(4)  whether the funding allocated to colleges under the job outcomes scheme will be dependent on participants entering employment after training.

John Hayes: As outlined in 'Investing in Skills for Sustainable Growth', as part of our approach to simplifying the system, while ensuring it continues to deliver more for individuals and employers, we are introducing outcome incentive payments. In the 2011/12 academic year the Skills Funding Agency will trial this approach through the introduction of a job outcome payment. I have asked the chief executive of the Skills Funding Agency to write to you to provide you with further details about this pilot with a copy of the responses being placed in the House.

Employment Schemes

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with the Department for Work and Pensions on the operation of the job outcome pilot scheme in the 2011-12 academic year;
	(2)  what discussions  (a) he and  (b) his Department have had with the Department for Work and Pensions on the implications of the job outcomes scheme pilot for that Department's consultation on skills conditionality.

John Hayes: We have been working closely with both the Department for Work and Pensions and Jobcentre Plus on the operation of job outcome incentive payments. Both have welcomed the principle of the payments. We are currently working through the model of how the proposals will operate in the 2011-12 academic year and will have detailed discussions as the proposals develop.
	The Skills Conditionality consultation (which was a joint consultation led by both BIS and DWP) closed on 3 February. Both Departments are currently working through the responses and, following the publication of the Government's response to the consultation, will be continuing to engage with the sector (including colleges and training providers) as we work up detailed proposals for implementation.

Employment Schemes: Further Education

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding he plans to allocate to colleges for the purposes of providing training for those who have been out of work for six months or more in the 2011-12 academic year.

John Hayes: As set out in Investing in 'Skills for Sustainable Growth'(1) on 16 November 2010 the total Skills Funding Agency programme budget will be £3.4 billion in 2011-12 financial year.
	As a part of the spending review we have had to look hard at the rationale for funding adult skills training and have been clear that we must do all that we can to support people enter the labour market. This is why full funding will be focused on people who are actively seeking work-recipients of jobseekers allowance (JSA) or employment support allowance (Work Related Activity Group; ESA (WRAG).
	It is not for us to attempt to plan the delivery of further education and skills from the top down. Instead, our simplification agenda will set colleges and training organisations free to respond to local need, giving Jobcentre Plus and employers a key role in shaping both the volume and content of provision for this group. We expect that the availability of fee remission for those on JSA or ESA (WRAG) will itself make them attractive group for colleges and training organisations. In addition we announced in the Skills Investment Strategy plans to incentivise delivery of training for people who are unemployed through the piloting of new job outcome payments for FE colleges and training organisations.
	(1) http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/further-education-skills/docs/s/10-1272-strategy-investing-in-skills-for-sustainable-growth.pdf

Higher Education: Admissions

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether higher education institutions charging more than £6,000 tuition fees for degree courses from 2012 will be required to join the National Scholarship Scheme.

David Willetts: All universities that want to charge a graduate contribution above £6,000 will be obliged to participate in the National Scholarship Programme (NSP). Broad details were announced on Thursday 10 February and information was placed in the Libraries of the House.

Higher Education: Admissions

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether all higher education institutions charging more than £6,000 in annual tuition fees will be eligible to join the National Scholarship Scheme from 2012.

David Willetts: Yes. All higher education institutions, whatever they charge, will be eligible to join the National Scholarship Programme, and those that want to charge above the £6,000 threshold will be obliged to participate.

Higher Education: Disadvantaged

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the purpose is of the access performance indicators identified in paragraph 6.1 of the guidance to the Director of Fair Access; and what the definition is of  (a) lower socio-economic classes and  (b) low-participation neighbourhoods.

David Willetts: Following the recommendations of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education, the Government asked the funding councils to develop suitable indicators and benchmarks of performance in the higher education sector. The Performance Indicators Steering Group (PISG) was established on behalf of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). Membership of the group is drawn from Government Departments, the funding councils and representative bodies. Since 2002/03, the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) has published the Performance Indicators (PIs) HEFCE will continue to further develop the PIs under the auspices of PISG.
	The indicators are designed to provide reliable information on the nature and performance of the higher education sector in the UK and a consistent set of measures of this performance. This will contribute to a greater public accountability by the sector, as well as ensure that policy decisions can be made on the basis of consistent and reliable information.
	The information on socio-economic classification is taken from the National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC). The classifications used are:
	1. Higher managerial and professional occupations
	2. Lower managerial and professional occupations
	3. Intermediate occupations
	4. Small employers and own account workers
	5. Lower supervisory and technical occupations
	6. Semi-routine occupations
	7. Routine occupations
	The performance indicator is the proportion of students from NS-SEC classes 4 to 7 out of those from NS-SEC 1-7.
	The low participation neighbourhood indicator has been produced using POLAR2 (Participation of Local AReas). This method is based on the HE participation rates of people who were aged 18 between 2000 and 2004 and entered a HE course in a UK higher education institution or GB further education college, aged 18 or 19, between academic years 2000/01 and 2005/06. It draws on data provided by the Higher Education Statistics Agency, the Learning and Skills Council, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, the other UK funding bodies and HM Revenue and Customs.
	The POLAR2 classification is formed by ranking 2001 Census Area Statistics wards by their young participation rates for the combined 2000 to 2004 cohorts. This gives five young participation quintile groups of areas ordered from '1' (those wards with the lowest participation) to '5' (those wards with the highest participation), each representing 20% of UK young cohort. Students have been allocated to the neighbourhoods on the basis of their postcode. Those students whose postcode falls within wards with the lowest participation (quintile 1) are denoted as being from a low participation neighbourhood.
	More information and the latest figures for the Performance Indicators can be found at the following link:
	http://www.hesa.ac.uk/index.php/content/category/2/32/141/

Human Rights and Transnational Corporations

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the outcomes were of his meeting with the UN Special Representative on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations on 10 January 2011.

Edward Davey: At our meeting on 10 January, John Ruggie and I discussed the focus of the Department's recent consultation on narrative reporting and the Government's intention to bring forward proposals shortly. Professor Ruggie also updated me on his work in relation to the draft Guiding Principles for the implementation of the UN 'Protect, Respect and Remedy' framework. I conveyed the UK's support for Professor Ruggie's work in relation to this project.

National Regional Development Agency Transition Programme Board

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills for what reasons the decision was made to include representatives from One North East, Advantage West Midlands and the East Midlands Development Agency on the National Regional Development Agency Transition Programme Board.

Mark Prisk: A meeting of the regional development agency chief executives selected the chief executives of Advantage West Midlands and East Midlands Development Agency as their representatives on the National Regional Development Agency Transition Board in July 2010. The chief executive of One North East attends as One North East is the current 'Chair of Chairs' (the chief Government liaison) for the RDA network.

Pharmaceutical Industry

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what meetings he or Ministers of his Department has had with representatives of the pharmaceutical industry since May 2010; with whom in each case; and what the  (a) purpose and  (b) location of each such meeting was.

David Willetts: On 16 June, the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr Prisk), attended the BioPharmaceutical Ministerial Industry Strategy Group (MISG), co-chaired alternately by David Brennan of AstraZeneca and the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr Lansley). MISG's purpose is for the Biopharmaceutical Industry and Government to engage on strategic issues. The meeting was held at the Department of Health, Richmond House, Whitehall, London. MISG members are shown in List 1.
	On 21 June, I attended the Ministerial Medical Technology Strategy Group (MMTSG). MMTSG's purpose is for the Medical Technology Industry and the Government to engage on strategic issues. The meeting was held at the Department of Health, Richmond House, Whitehall, London. MMTSG members are shown in List 2.
	In July 2010, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), the Minister of State (Mark Prisk) and the Under-Secretary of State (Baroness Wilcox) attended a Business Summit for Investors in the UK at Lancaster House which included a round-table meeting at which the following life sciences companies were present: 3M (Garry Stapleton), Amgen (Jeremy Haigh), Genzyme (Steve Bates), Johnson and Johnson (Colin Morgan), Medtronic (Geoff Morris), Pfizer (Alistair Strachan), Quintiles (Andrew Szanto), Sanofi-Aventis (Manjit Rahelu) and Takeda (Steve Coles). The purpose of the summit was to announce the UK's Foreign Direct Investment Results for 2009/10, to highlight the strength of the UK as an investment destination, and for Government to capture strategic investors' views on the UK offer to investors to guide future strategy development.
	The Secretary of State led a trade mission to Brazil in September 2010 to promote UK business interests. GSK's Senior Vice President in Latin America, Rogerio Ribeiro (based in Rio) participated.
	Baroness Wilcox met with GSK in September to discuss how intellectual property impacts upon the Pharmaceutical sector. Eddie Gray, President, Pharmaceuticals Europe, and Jon Pender, Director of Government Affairs, attended.
	In November 2010, the Secretary of State led a trade mission to Russia to promote UK business interests. Michael Crow, GSK's Senior Vice President Russia and Developing Markets Eurasia, participated in the mission. GSK signed an agreement with a company called Binnopharm for the local secondary manufacture of a number of GSK vaccines. The Secretary of State attended the signing, alongside GSK's then Vice President and General Manager for Russia, Fabio Landazabal.
	As the Minister responsible for life sciences within BIS, I have had regular contact with representatives of the pharmaceutical sector on a range of issues including on the long-term future for the sector and on related initiatives such as the Healthcare and Life Sciences Growth Review, as well as discussing issues with the recently appointed life sciences business adviser, Chris Brinsmead at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in London.
	Specifically, I met representatives of the ABPI (Richard Barker), BIA (Nigel Gaymond ), ABHI (Peter Ellingworth) and BIVDA (Doris Ann Williams) in September at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, 1 Victoria street, London. The purpose of the meeting was to engage with life sciences industry bodies on strategic issues which will help maintain the UK as a competitive location for life sciences business and on its future growth potential.
	I attended meetings of the Pharmaceutical Ministerial Industry Strategy Group (MISG) and the Ministerial Medical Technology Strategy Group (MMTSG) in November 2010. The meetings were held at the Department of Health, Richmond House, Whitehall, London.
	On 15 October, I visited the Pfizer Biotech Packaging Facility at Havant and met Richard Blackburn, Managing Director at Pfizer UK; Jim Neville, Site Lead at Havant; David Bevan, Head of Specialty Care Business Unit UK; and Lou Schmukler, Pfizer Global Senior Vice President Packaging and Manufacturing. The purpose of the visit was to open a state-of-the-art biotechnology packaging facility in which Pfizer invested £26.3 million.
	I met Dr Husseini Manji, Global Head of Neuroscience Research at Johnson and Johnson on 23 November 2010 to discuss UK neuroscience research. On 5 November 2010 I met Brad Sauer, Executive Vice President of 3M Healthcare to discuss 3M's healthcare interests in the UK. On 18 January 2011 I met Patrick Vallance, Head of Drug Discovery at GSK to discuss issues relating to research and collaboration.
	I met Ian Read, President and CEO of Pfizer on 24 January 2011 at 10 Downing street when Mr Read informed the Government, in confidence, of Pfizer's decision to close its facility at Sandwich.
	On 7 February 2011 I visited Pfizer's site at Sandwich. I met Ruth McKernan (Chief Scientific Officer) and various Pfizer employees to discuss the proposed closure of the Pfizer facility.
	Also on 7 February 2011, I hosted together with my noble Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Quality at the Department of Health (Earl Howe), a meeting of the Senior Industry Group (SIG). The SIG forum was established to complement the work of the Ministerial Industry (bio-pharmaceutical) Strategy Group (MISG) and the Ministerial Medical Technology Strategy Group (MMTSG). The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Healthcare and Life Sciences Growth Review. The meeting was held at the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, 1 Victoria street, London. Those who attended are shown in List 3.
	On 8 February 2011, I hosted a roundtable with Venture Capitalists and Ruth McKernan (chief scientific officer of Pfizer) to discuss the Pfizer site at Sandwich. The meeting was held at the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, 1 Victoria street, London.
	On Wednesday 9 February 2011, the Secretary of State and I met representatives of Pfizer as part of a Local Economic Task Force formed in response to Pfizer's decision to close its facility at Sandwich. The meeting included representatives of Kent county council and my hon. Friends, the Members for North Thanet (Mr Gale), South Thanet (Laura Sandys), Canterbury (Mr Brazier), Folkestone and Hythe (Damian Collins) and Dover (Charlie Elphicke).
	The Secretary of State met Dr John Lechleiter, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Eli Lilly and Co. Ltd., Ramona Sequeira, Managing Director, Lilly UK and Rick Ascroft, Director of Corporate Affairs, Lilly UK on Thursday 10 February at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, in London to discuss Eli Lilly's interests in the UK.
	 List 1: Ministerial (Bio-Pharmaceutical) Industry Strategy Group Membership
	 Government
	Secretary of State for Health (co-chair) (Rt Hon Andrew Lansley MP)
	Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Rt Hon Vince Cable MP)
	Minister for Universities and Science (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) (Rt Hon David Willetts MP)
	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Quality (Department of Health) (Earl Howe)
	Commercial Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Sassoon)
	 Members
	David Brennan (co-chair), British Pharma Group (CEO, Astra Zeneca)
	Richard Barker, ABPI Director General
	John Young, American Pharma Group and Pfizer Ltd
	Clive Dix, Chair BioIndustry Association (Chairman, Modern Biosciences plc)
	Simon Jose, President, ABPI (General Manager and Senior Vice President GSK UK Ltd
	Eddie Gray, British Pharma Group, President, Pharma Europe, GlaxoSmithKline
	William Burns, European Medicines Group, Head of Pharmaceutical International Operations
	F Hoffman, La Roche
	Haruo Naito, Japanese Pharma Group, President of Eisai Co. Ltd.
	 Joint Secretariat
	Department of Health
	British Pharma Group
	 List 2: Ministerial Medical Technology Strategy Group  Membership
	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Co-Chair) (Earl Howe)
	Minister of State for Universities and Science, Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) (Rt Hon David Willetts MP)
	 Industry
	Colin Morgan, Regional Vice President, Johnson and Johnson MDD (Co-Chair)
	Simon Cartmell, Chairman, Osspray Ltd
	Bettina Fitt, General Manager, UK and Ireland, GE Healthcare
	David Plotts, Vice President of Marketing, General Surgery, Covidien
	Herb Riband, Vice President External Affairs International, Medtronic International
	Philip Salt, Chief Executive, Salts Healthcare Ltd
	Gary Stapleton, Vice President EMEA, 3M
	Doris-Ann Williams, Director General, BIVDA
	Peter Ellingworth, Chief Executive, Association of British Healthcare Industries
	Tony Davis, Chief Executive, Medilink West Midlands
	 Secretariat
	Department of Health
	Association of British Healthcare Industries
	 List 3: Senior Industry Group
	 Attendees of meeting on 7 February 2011
	 Co-Chairs
	Rt Hon David Willetts MP, Minister for Universities and Science, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Quality, Department of Health (Earl Howe)
	 Attendees
	Chris Brinsmead, Life Sciences Business Adviser
	Michael Hunt, ReNeuron
	Jeremy Haigh, Amgen
	Matthew Speers, UCB
	Dr Mark Lloyd-Davies, Johnson and Johnson
	Simon Cartmell, OSspray
	Sue Middleton, GSK
	Bettina Fitt, GE Healthcare
	Nick Dusic, Pfizer
	Nick Burgin, Eisai
	Peter Ellingworth, ABHI
	Doris Ann Williams, BIVDA
	Nigel Gaymond, BIA
	Richard Barker, ABPI
	John Stageman, ABPI and TSB
	Aisling Burnand, Cancer Research UK
	Joe Wildy, Director of Public Affairs and Policy, BIA
	Mark Wilkinson, NHS

Post Office Mutualisation

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the Post Office workforce on his proposals for Post Office mutualisation.

Edward Davey: Co-operatives UK are currently seeking the views of all Post Office Ltd's major stakeholders on proposals for Post Office mutualisation. They will be providing a report to Ministers in the spring with options for a how a mutualised Post Office might work. The relevant unions have been actively involved in their research, and individual sub postmasters have also participated, as well as staff of Post Office Ltd. I have had no substantive discussions on this issue with any trade unions or with Post Office Ltd since Co-operatives UK began their work.

Post Office Mutualisation

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with the National Federation of Sub-postmasters on mutualisation of Post Office Ltd.

Edward Davey: Co-operatives UK are currently seeking the views of all Post Office Ltd's major stakeholders on Post Office mutualisation. They will be providing a report to Ministers in the spring with options for how a mutualised Post Office might work. The National Federation of SubPostmasters has been actively involved in their research, however, I have had no substantive discussions with them on this topic since Co-operatives UK began their work.

Post Office Mutualisation

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he expects to receive the outcome of the consideration by Co-operatives UK on the options for a mutualised Post Office.

Edward Davey: We expect Co-operatives UK's report on options for a mutualised Post Office to be presented to Ministers in April.

Post Office Mutualisation

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has received initial findings from Co-operatives UK from its study on options for a mutualised Post Office.

Edward Davey: I have not received any initial findings from Co-operatives UK from their study on options for a mutualised Post Office. I expect to receive their final report in April.

Post Office: Bank Services

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to his Department's document Securing the Post Office Network in the Digital Age, November 2010, what estimate he has made of the cost of establishing a Post Bank.

Edward Davey: The cost of establishing a Post Office bank would have three main components. First, the need for Government to capitalise Post Office Ltd (POL) to allow it to obtain a banking license and lend off of its own balance sheet. Second, exiting existing contractual arrangements relating to the provision of financial services through the post office network. Third, operational costs associated with setting up and running a new financial services unit within POL. The overall cost would depend on the remit and scope of operations of a Post Office bank.
	We have concluded that funding for the Post Office network over the spending review period will be better used maintaining and modernising the network to safeguard its future, ensuring that there will be no further programme of Post Office closures.

Post Office: Bank Services

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to his Department's document Securing the Post Office Network in the Digital Age, November 2010, what estimate he has made of the cost of capitalising a Post Bank.

Edward Davey: The Government have looked carefully at the option of creating a state-backed Post Office bank. One of the main components of the cost of establishing a Post Office bank would be the need for Government to capitalise Post Office Ltd (POL) to allow it to obtain a banking license and lend off its own balance sheet. The exact level of Government funding needed would depend on the remit and scope of operations of a Post Office bank. We have concluded that funding for POL over the spending review period will be better used maintaining and modernising the network to safeguard its future, ensuring that there will be no further programme of post office closures.

Post Office: Bank Services

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the merits of introducing a weekly budgeting account at the Post Office.

Edward Davey: The Government set out their policy on the future of the Post Office network in the policy statement "Securing the Post Office Network In the Digital Age", published on 9 November 2010. In this statement we were clear that we will support Post Office Ltd as it expands further into financial services through the provision of new products and by increasing access to UK current accounts through the Post Office network. Post Office Ltd will make commercial judgments on which products and services to deliver through the Post Office network, including proposals such as a weekly budgeting account. Within Government, HM Treasury has commissioned research exploring the options for all customers to have the opportunity to benefit from direct debit discounts.

Post Office: Bank Services

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has taken steps to assist the development of new banking products through the Post Office joint venture with the Bank of Ireland.

Edward Davey: The Government believe that continued growth of revenue from financial services will play an important part in the Post Office network's future sustainability. The development of specific new banking products through the joint venture between Post Office Ltd and the Bank of Ireland is a commercial matter for the companies.

Post Office: Bank Services

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to his Department's document Securing the Post Office Network in the Digital Age, November 2010, what assessment he has made of progress on proposals for Post Office Ltd to  (a) develop new banking products with the Bank of Ireland and  (b) extend access to credit union services.

Edward Davey: The Government are firmly supportive of the development by Post Office Ltd of new banking and financial products with the Bank of Ireland and of stronger links between Post Office Ltd and credit unions. Negotiations on the provision of new products and services are a commercial matter between Post Office Ltd and the companies and organisations concerned.

Post Office: Bank Services

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with Post Office Ltd on extending access to high street bank current accounts through the Post Office network.

Edward Davey: Ministers and officials have frequent discussions with senior management at Post Office Ltd on the future of the Post Office network, including on the Government's ambition for the Post Office to expand further into financial services and extend access to high street bank current accounts through the Post Office network.

Post Office: Bank Services

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with  (a) HSBC,  (b) Santander and  (c) Northern Rock on providing access to current accounts through the Post Office network.

Edward Davey: The Government welcome the recent agreement between Post Office Ltd and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to allow RBS and NatWest customers access to their accounts at post offices. Negotiations between Post Office Ltd and banks yet to reach agreement on providing access to current accounts at post offices are commercial matters between the companies concerned.

Regional Development Agencies: Assets

John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assets are held by each regional development agency in each region; what the estimated value is of each; which organisation is responsible for it; and what decision has been taken on future disposal in each case.

Mark Prisk: holding answer 11 February 2011
	 I refer to the answers given on 7 December 2010,  Official Report, column 245W and 28 October 2010,  Official Report, column 458W. The RDAs submitted detailed assets and liabilities plans to BIS on 31 January. These plans are currently being scrutinised, each disposal will be considered on a case by case basis. An estimated value of each asset cannot be disclosed, at this time, as this information is market and commercially sensitive.

Regional Development Agencies: Finance

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 8 February 2011,  Official Report, column 215W, to the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central, what the indicative funding allocations for each regional development agency were for 2011-12.

Mark Prisk: I refer to the answer given on 20 December 2010,  Official Report, column 1048W. The London Development Agency has not yet been given an indicative allocation.

Vocational Guidance

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether the new all-age careers service will be established on a uniform model across England.

John Hayes: The all-age careers service will have three core elements: online, helpline and community-based services. The online service and the helpline will deliver on a national basis. Local community-based services will be expected to meet national standards, but will have flexibility to tailor their services to meet local need, including in response to schools, which will have responsibility for securing access for their pupils to independent, impartial guidance.